Barclays ATP World Tour Finals preview.

The top eight players in men’s tennis, as reckoned by the ATP rankings, will be slugging it out for the ATP World Tour title this week at London’s O2 arena. This annual event doesn’t quite have the cachet of a Grand Slam victory but it is certainly a glamour occasion with a past champions Hall of Fame that has tended to accurately reflect the contemporary power in the game.

The event has an initial round-robin format with two groups of four; the winner of each group plays the runner-up in the other group in the semi-finals. All matches are the best of three sets with final set tie-breaks.

So, who are the combatants, what shape are they in, what is their history in the event and what do the head-to-heads look like?

Group A

Roger Federer

Having reasserted himself over Nadal this year by reaching the final of every Grand Slam, Federer will be hungry for this because his inter-slam form has not been great (by his standards). Having dipped out of the Paris Open early, he should be well rested. Unlikely to lose more than one round-robin match.

ATP Finals record (matches won & lost respectively): 28-5 (four titles).

Andy Murray

A big year for Murray, who has won more matches and titles than anyone else. A poor US Open and a six-week injury lay-off threatened to derail his season but he has come back strongly and should be fresh. A good head-to-head record against Federer and effectively a home crowd (ignoring the Scottish nuance) could work in his favour.

Record: 3-1

Juan Martin Del Potro

After his magnificent US Open triumph, Del Potro has suffered an After the Lord Mayor’s Show slump in form and an abdominal injury problem. Very much a swing-from-the-hip player, it could go either way for him.

Record: 1-2

Fernando Verdasco

A relatively late developer at the age of 25, the playboy of the tour has had his most successful season, the highlight being a tough semi-final defeat to Nadal in the Australian Open. Habitual quarter-finalist, he is unlikely to make any impression here.

Record: début

Group A head-to-heads:

Federer  Murray 3-6
Federer  Del Potro 6-1
Federer  Verdasco 3-0
Murray  Del Potro 4-1
Murray  Verdasco 7-1
Del Potro Verdasco -

Group B

Rafael Nadal

The Mallorcan, still amazingly only 23, has realistically only a slim chance of winning this one after an injury-bedevilled year. The most pertinent recent indicator was a crushing semi-final defeat in Paris by Djokovic. He’ll be glad to get it over with and start afresh in January.

Record: 4-4

Novak Djokovic

After an indifferent Grand Slam year, the defending champion Djokovic is on a hot streak, having won 18 of his last 19 matches, including beating Federer in his own backyard (the Basle Open). Of all the competitors, he currently seems to be the most at ease with himself and his game.

Record: 4-3 (one title)

Nikolay Davydenko

The serious-minded Russian earned his place by posting some good results in the second half of the season, in particular, outlasting the others at the big Shanghai Masters tournament in October. Has pedigree in this event, being the runner-up to Djokovic last year. By some way the smallest competitor in the draw, he’ll need all of his resourcefulness and fighting spirit to win more than one match here.

Record: 8-7

Robin Soderling

The last man aboard after the withdrawal of Andy Roddick, the Swede has nevertheless a decent chance of at least making the semis. His position is very similar to that of Del Potro – slightly less skillful than the others but with the firepower to really trouble opponents.

Record: début

Group B head-to-heads:

Nadal  Djokovic 14-6
Nadal  Davydenko 4-3
Nadal  Soderling 3-1
Djokovic Davydenko 2-2
Djokovic Soderling 5-0
Davydenko Soderling 3-6

N.B. Both Djokovic and Davydenko have winning records over Nadal on hard courts.

QoS will be keeping tabs on proceedings throughout the week.