First held in 1970, what is now known as the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Finals will start Sunday at the O2 Arena in London (GBR), heading toward the end of a 2009-20 venue agreement.
The event pits the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams in competition for $8 million in prize money. Competition starts Sunday and runs through the following Sunday, with both events using round-robin group play to determine the semifinalists.
The singles groups include (with seed nos.):
∙ Group Guga Kuerten:
Marin Cilic (CRO: 5) ~ 2018 Australian Open runner-up
Alexander Zverev (GER: 3) ~ 2018 Madrid Open winner
Novak Djokovic (SRB: 1) ~ 2018 Wimbledon & U.S. Open winner
John Isner (USA: 8) ~ 2018 Atlanta Open winner
∙ Group Lleyton Hewitt:
Dominic Thiem (AUT: 6) ~ 2018 French Open runner-up
Kei Nishikori (JPN: 7) ~ 2018 Japan Open runner-up
Kevin Anderson (RSA: 4) ~ 2018 Wimbledon runner-up
Roger Federer (SUI: 2) ~ 2018 Australian Open winner
The doubles groups (and seeds):
∙ Group Knowles/Nestor:
Oliver Marach (AUT)/Mate Pavic (CRO): 1
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Marcelo Melo (BRA): 3
Mike Bryan/Jack Sock (USA): 5
Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut (FRA): 8
∙ Group Llodra/Santoro:
Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (COL): 2
Jamie Murray (GBR)/Bruno Soares (BRA): 4
Raven Klaasen (RSA)/Michael Venus (NZL): 6
Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Alexander Peya (AUT): 7
Djokovic has won the singles competition five times and Federer has won six titles, the last in 2011.
None of the doubles teams have won before, but Kubot and Melo made it to the finals last season; Mike Bryan won in 2003-04-09-14 when teamed with his brother Bob.
The event will have television coverage in the U.S. on ESPN2 and streaming coverage on ESPN3. Look for results here.
