London will once again be the location where the curtain is brought down on another tennis season as eight players do battle in the ATP finals at the O2 Arena.
Players qualify for the final event of the year by accumulating enough points throughout the year to finish inside the top eight.
Ahead of the tournament, we looked at each competitor in closer detail:
Rafael Nadal
The Spaniard who is already assured to finish as world number one will be hoping he can overcome a knee injury picked up whilst playing at the Paris Masters.
After being forced to call time on his 2016 campaign because of a wrist problem the 31-year-old has returned stronger than ever, winning two Grand Slams and making the final of the Australian Open.
Nadal will have another opportunity to avenge defeat against old nemesis Roger Federer in that final but only time will tell how much this latest injury affects his performance.
Roger Federer
Federer also had to deal with the heartache of a season-ending injury last term, missing the 2016 Olympics because of vital knee surgery.
In his mid-30s there were those who wondered whether he could come back from such a big injury but he certainly did return in style, also lifting two Grand Slams.
The 36-year-old will have a slight mental edge over a number of his competitors, having beaten Nadal and Marin Cilic in the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon respectively.
Alexander Zverev
This 20-year-old has been making waves in tennis for a number of years but his stock has risen exponentially over the past 12 months, claiming a first Masters 1000 title with victory over none other than Novak Djokovic.
That massive result against one of modern greats at the 2017 Italian Open gave the clearest indication as to just how much ability this German has with a racket.
Although his best performance at a Grand Slam was during Wimbledon this year where he reached the fourth round, the Hamburg-born player has moved up to world number three.
Grigor Dimitrov
This will be the first time the Bulgarian is set to appear at the ATP Finals after he achieved a career-high world number six position.
The 26-year-old hit the ground running in 2017, beating three top ten players on the way to winning the Brisbane International – This was Dimitrov’s first ATP in nearly three years.
He continued to make good progress, reaching the semi-final of the Australian Open where he just came up short against Nadal in an epic five-set contest. Dimitrov, who also won his first Masters title in Cincinnati, will be confident he can cause a major upset.
Jack Sock
The American has made great progress this season, breaking into the top 10 after winning his first Masters title, beating Filip Krajinvoic in the final of the Paris Masters.
Earlier in the year he had shown exactly why he has the ability to mix it with the best players in the world, beating both Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. This was a significant moment in Sock’s career, especially as the latter was the first time he had beaten a top five opponent.
The 25-year-old will be looking to give a good account of American tennis, becoming the first US player to feature at the event since Mardy Fish back in 2011.
David Goffin
After a disappointing first half of the season, David Goffin will be hoping to carry on the good form from the past few months. The Belgian secured his first ATP tour title in three years with victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Shenzhen Open.
Goffin, who had also further boosted his profile by breaking into the top 10 for the first time, enjoyed further title success at the Japan Open.
The 26-year-old will look to draw on the experience he has gained during recent clashes with the likes of Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray when he takes to the court in London.
Dominic Thiem
Thiem’s achievements this year include an 8th ATP World Tour title but perhaps most notably will his promising performance at the Roland Garros, making it all the way to the final.
Versatility is a key trait of all the best tennis players and Thiem showed he had that in abundance with the way he played on clay, dispatching Djokovic, who was the defending champion.
The victory over Djokovic meant Thiem had beaten each of the ‘Big Four’ once and it is a stat like that which makes him a dangerous opponent for any of the other competitors.
Marin Cilic
The imposing Croatian came ever so close to winning a second career Grand Slam, making his debut in this year’s Wimbledon final before losing to Federer in straight sets.
After that momentous day in New York during the 2014 US Open there has been a huge amount of expectation around the potential of Cilic, who has a thunderous serve and moves fairly well for his height.
Finishing the year inside the world’s top five is testament to how well the 29-year-old has responded after heartache at the All England Club this summer.
