By defeating nine-time former Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal in the French Open quarter-final in June, Novak qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the ninth year in a row.
The world’s biggest indoor tournament begins on Sunday, November 15, at the O2 Arena in London, and will be played until November 22.
The best eight singles players and the best eight teams of the season will compete for the trophy. It is a round robin format with eight singles players divided in two groups of four.
Groups A and B are renamed in honour of players that made an indelible mark on the tournament in the 1970s.
Novak is placed in Group Stan Smith, with Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori. The three-time defending champion and no.1 seed will open his campaign on Sunday at 14:00 local time (15:00 CET) against no.8 seed from Japan.
Group Stan Smith (winner of the inaugural tournament in Tokyo in 1970)
1. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
3. Roger Federer (Switzerland)
6. Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
8. Kei Nishikori (Japan)
Group Ilie Nastase (four-time winner of the event from 1971-1973 and ’75)
2. Andy Murray (Great Britain)
4. Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)
5. Rafael Nadal (Spain)
7. David Ferrer (Spain)
Nole’s head-to-head record against the participants:
Andy Murray 21-9
*Roger Federer 21-21
Stanislas Wawrinka 19-4
Rafael Nadal 22-23
*Tomas Berdych 20-2
David Ferrer 16-5
*Kei Nishikori 4-2
The winner of each group will be placed in separate semi-final brackets, with the top player in Group Stan Smith playing the runner-up in Group Ilie Nastase and vice versa.
For each Round Robin win players get 200 points, semi-final win brings 400 points, and the win in the finals is worth 500 additional points. Undefeated champion can earn 1500 points.
The world no.1 won four matches at the prestigious tournament last year. He beat Cilic, Wawrinka, Berdych and Nishikori. Federer withdrew ahead of final due to a back injury.
Novak also won the title at the prestigious season-ending tournament in 2008, ’12 and ’13.
Djokovic will bid to become the first player in history to capture four successive Barclays ATP World Tour Finals singles titles. The Belgrade native is spending his 172nd week ranked no.1, which is fifth-most.
