Published 01:06 IST, November 6th 2019
ATP Final groups announced; Federer-Djokovic paired in the same group
The two groups for the year-ender ATP Finals Cup was announced and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have been paired together in the Bjorn Borg group.
The groups for the ATP finals have been announced and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have been paired in the same group for the high profile year-ender tournament. The draw took place on Tuesday evening.
Groups announced
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, and Matteo Berrettini are a part of the Bjorn Borg group, whereas Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev are a part of the Andre Aggasi group. The ATP Finals will be taking place at the O2 Arena in London from November 10-17.
Eight different countries are represented in the elite eight-man singles field for the fourth consecutive year, with Group Bjorn Borg matches beginning on Sunday, 10 November. Group Andre Agassi matches are scheduled to begin on Monday, 11 November. Nadal will be hoping to seal the number one rank for the fifth time. He is currently injured after withdrawing from the Paris Masters just before playing Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals. He posted a medical update on his Twitter account on Monday evening, and said, "Yesterday I had a resonance in Mallorca and despite having a small strain in the right abdominal rectum, I will travel to London. Thursday or Friday I will start adapting to the service. The idea is to be able to play the ATP finals in London. Thanks for the support!"
Djokovic will be hoping to edge past the Spaniard and overturn the 640 points gap between the two. The Serbian leads his group as the highest-ranked player. Federer, on the other hand, has won the competition on six previous occasions and has a 51-8 record in 2019. He will play Djokovic for the 49th time to continue their epic rivalry.
The Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London is the year-end climax to the men's professional tennis season, featuring only the world's best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams as they battle it out for the last title of the season. Players compete for ATP Rankings points throughout the season in a bid to earn one of the eight coveted berths and a chance to win the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world. Played using a round-robin format, each player plays three matches as they compete for a berth in the knockout semi-finals and beyond. Zverev is the defending Champion.
(with inputs from agencies)
Updated 03:51 IST, November 6th 2019