Novak will finish the 2012 season in London at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The 25-year-old Belgrade native has had another strong year with a 70-12 match record and five titles, including one Grand Slam championship, three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies and one ATP 500.
The best eight singles players and the best eight doubles teams of the season have qualified for the world’s biggest indoor tournament which begins on Monday, November 5, at the O2 Arena in London, and will be played until November 12.
The event is a round robin format with eight players divided in two groups of four.
Nole is placed in Group A, with Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Djokovic will begin his campaign on Monday at 20.45 CET against the Frenchman.
“I’ve been in London for last couple days trying to get used to the conditions here, try to prepare for the season finals. I want to give my best. As I said before, you cannot expect an easy opponent or an easy opening match of a tournament because everybody here, they are top players in the world and in this season. I played Jo many times. Last time was in the finals of Beijing tournament. We always have good battles, tough battles. He’s a big server. He’s the kind of player that feeds off the energy of the crowd. He played finals here last year. It’s going to be very difficult for both of us, but obviously to have a win at the start of the tournament would mean a lot for every player here”, Novak said.
Group A
1. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
2. Andy Murray (Great Britain)
3. Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)
Group B
1. Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2. David Ferrer (Spain)
3. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)
4. Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia)
Nole’s head-to-head record against the participants:
Roger Federer 12-16
*Andy Murray 9-7
David Ferrer 9-5
* Tomas Berdych 10-1
Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2
*Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 8-5
Janko Tipsarevic 5-2
The winner of each group will be placed in separate semi-final brackets, with the top player in Group A playing the runner-up in Group B and vice versa.
For each Round Robin win players will 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.
Last year Novak scored one win (beat Tomas Berdych, lost to David Ferrer and alternate Janko Tipsarevic) which was not enough for semi-final spot.
Nole (1 title-2008) and Roger (6 titles-2003, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’10 and ‘11) are the only participants of this year’s Finals who have won the competition at least once.
The world’s top two doubles pairings, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (USA, 1) and defending champions Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi (CAN/BLR, 2), lead doubles Groups A and B.
This will be Nole’s sixth consecutive appearance at the final tournament of the season.
The Serbian star won his only Master Cup title at the season finale in Shanghai 2008 when he beat Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
Photos: Getty Images
