Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2014: Draw, Schedule, Format and Preview

Tournament format

Each player of the eight top-ranked players has been drawn into one of two groups based on their ranking after the qualifying period. Every player will face each other over three sets with the two players with the best head-to-head records progressing to the semi-final.

If two players finish on the same amount of round robin wins, then the head-to-head result between the pair will decide who goes through to the semi-final.

Should three players finish on the same amount of group wins, then percentages of sets and games won over their three matches will attempt to separate them. In the eventuality of a tie the highest player in the ATP rankings will then progress.

The player qualifying in first position will face the player placed second in the other group in each semi-final. The two players victorious in the semi-final matches will face off in the final on 16 November.

Overview

The ATP season comes to a fitting crescendo with the World Tour Finals, hosted at the O2 Arena in London for the sixth straight year.

The world's top eight players, without Rafael Nadal due to the Spaniard undergoing appendicitis surgery, collide with both the year-end world number one and the final major title of the year still up for grabs.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic is the favourite to defend his crown and claim a fourth title at the season-ending finals, just weeks on from the birth of his first child.

The Paris Masters champion prevailed at Wimbledon in the summer and stands just three round robin wins away from finishing the year as the world number one. Passage to the final will also be enough to hold off world number two Roger Federer.

Djokoivc has lost just five times in his career to his three Group A opponents Stanislas Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic and will surely occupy one of two available places in the knockout stage.

Wawrinka is making his second appearance in London after his maiden major victory at the Australian Open, while the big-hitting Berdych is joined by the first of three players debuting, US Open champion Marin Cilic.

In Group B, 18-time grand slam winner Federer is pursuing his sixth title at the ATP Finals and is joined by a resurgent Andy Murray, who will play in the tournament for the first time since 2012.

The Briton played six tournaments in as many weeks in order to qualify for London, which included wins in Vienna and Valencia before reaching the Paris last eight to secure his berth.

Kei Nishikori and Milos Raoinic, making their first appearances, complete Group B with the Japan player looking to react after an uncertain end to the year while the Canadian 23-year-old's booming serve could threaten on the indoor surface at the O2 Arena.