Following his pupil closely, Carlos Moya arrived at The O2 on Saturday to practise with the Canadian ahead of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The World No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, who withdrew ahead of the semi-finals of last week’s BNP Paribas Masters due to a leg injury, is looking at his options to arrive best-prepared for his first match in London. He opens on Sunday against Gael Monfils.

“It’s okay,” Moya said to ATPWorldTour.com after a practice session with the Canadian. “Yesterday was the third day he practised after the injury. It started very slowly. On Thursday he had a more intense training. We are making progress, but we know that we have limited time. The progression has been good.”

The former World No. 1 is aware that Raonic faces a different situation in this tournament from 2014, when he made his debut at the season finale.

“Now he expects to be here and is fighting for No. 3,” added Moya. “The goal at the beginning of the season was to qualify for London, but once the season progressed and he achieved so many good results, we raised the bar. He proved to himself that there are ways to go far. If he is in good physical condition, he will be one of the players to watch this week, that is for sure.”

View practice schedule & watch live stream from practice courts 

Moya, finalist at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 1998 (l. to Corretja), when the event was held in Hanover, Germany, knows the difficulty involved in the tournament. Raonic is making his second appearance, having fallen in the group stage in 2014.

“They are the eight best players. You cannot expect to have an easy opponent. There are two newcomers and maybe they will struggle a little, although Monfils is a very experienced player. Thiem has not had the consistency as he did in early 2016, but that is normal. It sounds like a cliché, but we take the tournament match by match.

“I was expecting a season like this. I’ve had a lot of faith in him and I thought he was a player who’s not very far from reaching his full potential. This year, he’s been very consistent, except for the stretch from September to October, but that is normal too. Right now, he is No. 4 in the world and very close (65 points) to Stan Wawrinka for No. 3. That shows you how strong he’s been and the good year he’s had. Right now he is playing great tennis, as he’s demonstrated in Paris. Hopefully he will hold up physically and everything will go well.”

Raonic opens against Monfils in the night session on Sunday, with the match starting not before 8:00pm local time. He trails the Frenchman 3-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, but has claimed two of their three encounters this year.

Novak Djokovic on Sunday will open his attempt to win the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for a fifth successive year, and for a record-equalling sixth time overall, when he plays Dominic Thiem in the first singles match of the week. In Sunday’s other Group Ivan Lendl encounter, Milos Raonic meets Gael Monfils.

Of all the courts on the ATP World Tour – some of them thousands of miles east or west of here – it’s on this blue rectangle before you, just off the Greenwich Meridian, that Djokovic tends to touch the heights of his talent.

Search for the latitude and longitude and you’ll know that near-on Prime Meridian brings out something close to Prime Novak; for the past four years, Djokovic has rounded a season of international travel and competition by coming to this peninsula in southeast London and ripping through his rivals. Just days after being dislodged from No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, with Andy Murray surging to the top of last Monday’s list, there could be no better place for the Serbian to seek to regain his supremacy. If everything goes the defending champion’s way at The O2 this week, he will become the first man to score five consecutive titles at the season finale, as well as putting himself level with Roger Federer on a record six tournament victories, and, here’s the clincher, he’ll make an immediate return to No. 1.

Djokovic’s opponent, Dominic Thiem, isn’t the only debutant in Group Ivan Lendl, as Monfils will also be making his first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday evening with Raonic, who’s returning for the first time since 2014.

Ivan Lendl’s name doesn’t tend to raise expectations of emotion, expression and showmanship on a tennis court. But, in a little twist, it will on Sunday evening. That’s thanks to the groups being named after icons from the 1980s. Sunday evening’s Group Ivan Lendl match will bring a first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for Monfils, arguably the most entertaining player on the ATP World Tour.

Monfils, who has made the cut for the first time at the age of 30, is simply incapable of playing a boring tennis match, or of suppressing his emotions. Over the course of his long and productive connection with this tournament, Lendl’s return was how he ruthlessly swept to nine straight finals and five titles. You’ll find Monfils at the other end of the spectrum. Don’t be at all surprised if the Frenchman is grinning, or at least showing he’s enjoying himself, before the opening game (or even the warm-up) is completed. That’s not to say, of course, that Monfils won’t be giving his all on his debut (or perhaps that should be, at his premiere?) There’s been a new maturity to Monfils this year, which has helped him to qualify, though thankfully that hasn’t drained the fun out of him.

London has seen a lot of Milos Raonic this year, what with the Canadian reaching the final at The Queen’s Club and Wimbledon. On both occasions, it’s taken Andy Murray to stop him. Will Raonic make a third final in the city this season?

In doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan play Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo on Sunday afternoon, while Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares take on Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi on Sunday evening.

DAY 1 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS – Singles Matches
[2] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [8] Dominic Thiem (AUT) Djokovic Leads 3-0
14 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard R32 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4
16 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (USA) Hard R16 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4
16 Roland Garros (France) Clay SF Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-1 6-4

Djokovic 2016 Summary: W(8): Doha (d Nadal); Australian Open (d Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (d Raonic); ATP Masters 1000 Miami (d Nishikori); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (d Murray); Roland Garros (d Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (d Nishikori); F(4): ATP Masters 1000 Rome (l Murray); US Open (l Wawrinka); SF: ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Bautista Agut); QF(2): Dubai (l Lopez); ATP Masters 1000 Paris (l Cilic)

YTD W-L: 61-8 (43-5 on hard, 18-7 in tie-breaks)
YTD Titles: 7 / Career Titles: 66
Date of Birth: May 22, 1987 (Age 29)
Emirates ATP Ranking: 2

• Tournament History: The 29-year-old Belgrade native is making his 10th consecutive season finale appearance. Comes in as only player to win 4 straight titles in tournament history and also won 2008 title in Shanghai (d. Davydenko). During his 4-year title run, has won 18 of 19 matches with only loss to Federer in 2nd match last year

• Trying to tie Federer’s record of 6 year-end championship titles and tied with Lendl and Sampras with 5 titles

• Overall has a 27-10 match record and only 5-time winner unbeaten in finals

• Has ranked in Top 3 each time coming into year-end finale, including No. 1 in 2011-12, 2014-15

• In his last 4 title runs, defeated No. 2 Federer in 2012 final, No. 1 Nadal in 2013, won by walkover in 2014 vs. No. 2 Federer, who withdrew due to a back injury, and last year over No. 3 Federer

• Has earned $10,119,000 in tournament, which is No. 2 behind Federer ($14,349,000)

• Has a 10-2 career record in decisive-set matches (.833), which is 2^nd-best in tournament history behind Ilie Nastase (12-1, .923)

• 2016 Review: The Serb won at least 7 titles for a 4th consecutive season (5th in 6 years) as he compiled a 7-2 record in finals, highlighted by his maiden crown at Roland Garros in his 12th attempt (d. Murray). Become 8th man with career Grand Slam and 3rd with all 4 majors at once, first since Rod Laver in 1969. Also tied Roy Emerson for 4th all-time with 12 Grand Slam singles titles

• Surpassed 200 weeks at No. 1, $100 million in prize money and 50 wins at all 4 majors during Roland Garros

• His 223 weeks at No. 1 is 5^th-most in history of Emirates ATP Rankings, behind Federer (302), Sampras (286), Lendl (270) and Connors (268). His 122 consecutive weeks (since July 7, 2014) at No. 1 ended on Nov. 7 as Murray took over. Has 4th-most behind Federer (237), Connors (160) and Lendl (157)

• Trying to finish No. 1 in Emirates ATP Rankings for 3rd straight year and 5th time in past 6 years (2011-12, 2014-15)

• Captured at least 4 ATP Masters 1000 titles for 3rd straight season, winning titles at Indian Wells (d. Raonic) and Miami (d. No. 6 Nishikori) for 3rd straight year and 4th time overall. Also won Madrid (d. No. 2 Murray) and Toronto (d. No. 6 Nishikori) to extend record 30 ATP Masters 1000 titles. Compiled a 31-4 match record. It was 4th time in past 6 years he won at least 30 matches

• Surpassed 60 match wins for a 10th consecutive year and has a 61-8 record

• In opening month of season, won Doha (d. Nadal) and tied Emerson’s all-time record with 6th Australian Open title (d. No. 2 Murray)

• Became 3rd active player to reach 700 wins by beating Jaziri in Dubai 2R on Feb. 24 (also Federer and Nadal) and fell 1 shy of Lendl’s Open-Era record 18 straight tournament finals appearances, retiring vs Lopez in Dubai QF (eye)

• Fell to No. 3 Murray in ATP Masters 1000 Rome final, snapping career-long 17-match win streak vs Top 10

• Lost to No. 41 Querrey in Wimbledon 3R, ending 30-match win streak at majors. From Wimbledon-on, had a 17-5 record after 44-3 start through Paris

• Advanced to 7th US Open final (l. to No. 3 Wawrinka) and 21st Grand Slam final overall (12-9), 2nd all-time to Federer’s 27 (17-10)

• Has a 53-1 match record when winning opening set during year with only loss coming to Wawrinka in US Open final. Also has most Top 10 wins (18-3)

• Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (left wrist) and Beijing (elbow)

Thiem 2016 Summary: W(4): Buenos Aires (d Almagro); Acapulco (d Tomic); Nice (d Zverev); Stuttgart (d Kohlschreiber); F(2): Munich (l Kohlschreiber); Metz (l Pouille); SF(4): Brisbane (l Federer); Rio de Janeiro (l Pella); Roland Garros (l Djokovic); Halle (l F. Mayer); QF(3): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Nishikori); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Raonic); Chengdu (l Ramos-Vinolas)

YTD W-L: 57-22 (25-13 on hard, 20-14 in tie-breaks)
YTD Titles: 4 / Career Titles: 7
Date of Birth: September 3, 1993 (Age 23)
Emirates ATP Ranking: 9

• Tournament History: The 23-year-old Austrian is the youngest player in this year’s field and 1 of 2 first-time participants (Monfils)

• Countryman Thomas Muster is only other Austrian to qualify for the year-end finale. Muster qualified 3 times, in 1990, 1995-96) and played as an alternate in 1997 (l. to Moya 62 63). He compiled a 2-8 round robin record. He also was a non-playing alternate in 1993

• 2016 Review: The top Austrian is youngest player to finish in Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings and first player from his country to finish in Top 10 since Thomas Muster was No. 9 in 1997. Overall, is 3rd Austrian to break into Top 10, first since Jurgen Melzer week of May 30, 2011

• Set career-highs in ATP World Tour titles (4), finals (6), match wins (57) and ranking (No. 7 on June 6). Played in most tournaments (26) and 2nd-most matches (79) of any player in Top 10 (Murray led with 82)

• His titles came on 3 different surfaces at Buenos Aires (d. Almagro) on clay, Acapulco (d. Tomic) on hard, Nice (d. A. Zverev) on clay and Stuttgart (d. Kohlschreiber) on grass. Only player on ATP World Tour during season to win at least 25 matches on clay (25) and hard courts (25). Also won career-high 7 grass matches

• Led ATP World Tour with a 21-2 record in decisive-set matches and won a tour-high 16 matches when losing opening set

• En route to 2 of his titles, saved 1 MP in Buenos Aires 2R (d. Elias) and SF (d. No. 5 Nadal), as well as 2 MPs in Stuttgart SF (d. No. 3 Federer)

• Advanced to 1st Grand Slam SF at Roland Garros (d. Goffin, l. to No. 1 Djokovic)

• Runner-up at Munich (l. to Kohlschreiber 76 in 3rd) and Metz (l. to Pouille)

• Defeated No. 2 Federer at Rome for biggest career win by ranking and to reach 2nd ATP Masters 1000 QF (Nishikori).

• During summer hard court circuit, best result was QF at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (1R bye, 2R d. Millman, 3R w/o, l. to Raonic). Followed with 4R at US Open (ret. vs. del Potro with knee injury)

• Reached 1st ATP doubles final at Kitzbühel w/Novak (l. to Koolhof/Middelkoop 11-9 in Match TB after holding 1 MP)

• Earned 1st 3 Davis Cup victories of career to lead Austria to 4-1 win over Portugal in Group I 1R

• Withdrew from Hamburg (illness), Los Cabos (hip) and ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (illness)

• Retired in Sydney 2R (blisters), ATP Masters 1000 Toronto 2R (hip) and US Open 4R (right knee)

MATCH WINS LEADERS: Thiem is tied for No. 3 on the ATP World Tour this year with 57 match wins. Here are the leaders:

W-L Titles
1) Andy Murray 73-9 8
2) Novak Djokovic 61-8 7
3) Kei Nishikori 57-18 1
Dominic Thiem 57-22 4
5) Milos Raonic 50-15 2

2016 TITLE LEADERS: Thiem is also tied for No. 3 on the ATP World Tour this season with four titles:
No.
1) Andy Murray 8
2) Novak Djokovic 7
3) Dominic Thiem 4
Stan Wawrinka 4
5) Nick Kyrgios 3

[4] Milos Raonic (CAN) vs [6] Gael Monfils (FRA) Monfils Leads 3-2
11 Stockholm (Sweden) Hard SF Gael Monfils 6-7(6) 6-4 6-3
13 Halle (Germany) Grass R32 Gael Monfils 6-4 6-2
16 Australian Open (Australia) Hard QF Milos Raonic 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4
16 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (USA)Hard QF Milos Raonic 7-5 6-3
16 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard QF Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4

Raonic 2016 Summary: W: Brisbane (d Federer); F(3): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Djokovic); London / Queen’s Club (l Murray); Wimbledon (l Murray); SF(4): Australian Open (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Murray); Beijing (W/O vs Dimitrov); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (W/O vs Murray); QF(4): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Kyrgios); ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Murray); ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (l Djokovic); ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (l Monfils)

YTD W-L: 50-15 (30-9 on hard, 26-10 in tie-breaks)
YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: December 27, 1990 (Age 25)
Emirates ATP Ranking: 4 (Career-high, first on May 11, 2015)

• Tournament History: The 25-year-old Canadian is appearing in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for 2nd time in 3 years

• Made debut in 2014 and lost to No. 2 Federer 61 76 and No. 6 Murray 63 75. Withdrew from final round robin match due to a right thigh injury (vs. Nishikori) and was replaced by alternate David Ferrer

• 2016 Review: The top player from Canada earned his 8th career ATP World Tour title (most of any player born in 1990s) and reached 3 other finals, including his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon

• Became first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon (l. to No. 2 Murray). En route to final, earned first win from 2 sets down to beat Goffin in 4R, then defeated No. 3 Federer in 5 sets in SF

• Also fell to No. 2 Murray in London/Queen’s Club final after leading 76 30

• Won 1st 9 matches of season, highlighted by title in opening week at Brisbane (d. No. 3 Federer)

• Upset No. 4 Wawrinka in 5 sets en route to SFs at Australian Open (l. to No. 2 Murray in 5 sets)

• Compiled a personal-best 24-8 match record at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and reached QFs or better in 7 of 9 tournaments. Best result was 3rd career Masters 1000 runner-up at Indian Wells (d. No. 7 Berdych, Monfils and Goffin; l. to No. 1 Djokovic). Also reached SFs in Cincinnati (d. No. 9 Thiem, l. to No. 2 Murray) and Paris (W/O vs. Murray) and QFs at Miami (l. to Kyrgios), Monte-Carlo (l. to No. 2 Murray), Madrid (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) and Toronto (l. to Monfils). Held 2 MPs before falling in 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai 3R to Sock 76 in 3rd

• Put together 6-7 record vs. Top 10 opponents after 3-9 in 2013, 3-10 in 2014 and 2-8 in 2015. His 6 Top 10 wins tied his career-best in 2012

• In Infosys ATP Scores & Stats, ranks among Top 4 in 5 of 6 service categories: No. 3 in service games won (91%), break pts. saved (70%), 2nd serve pts. won (56%) and No. 4 in aces (824) and 1st serve pts. won (80%)

• Withdrew from Delray Beach and Acapulco (hip) and conceded walkover in Beijing SF vs Dimitrov (right ankle) and Paris SF vs Murray (right leg-quadricep)

MILOS AMONG SERVICE LEADERS: Raonic is one of the best servers on the ATP World Tour, ranking among the Top 10 in all six Infosys ATP Scores & Stats categories this season.

Monfils 2016 Summary: W: Washington (d Karlovic); F(2): Rotterdam (l Klizan); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); SF(3): ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Toronto (l Djokovic); US Open (l Djokovic); Tokyo (l Kyrgios); QF(4): Australian Open (l Raonic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Raonic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Nishikori); Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games (l Nishikori)

YTD W-L: 44-15 (37-11 on hard, 13-9 in tie-breaks)
YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: September 1, 1986 (Age 30)
Emirates ATP Ranking: 6 (Career-high)

• Tournament History: The 30-year-old Frenchman is 1 of 2 first-time participants (Thiem) in this year’s field and 2nd-oldest in this year’s field behind Wawrinka (31)

• He is 9th different Frenchman to qualify for the year-end championship (since 1970)

• Richard Gasquet was last Frenchman to qualify in year-end championship in 2013. He went 0-3 in round robin play

• He is first player 30 & over to make debut in season finale since Andres Gimeno (35) and Bob Hewitt (32) in 1972 Barcelona

• In history of tournament, 2 Frenchmen have reached the final: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2011 (l. to Federer) and Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 (l. to Hewitt)

• 2016 Review: The top player from France will finish in Top 10 Emirates ATP Rankings for first time in his career and comes into London with a personal-best 44 match wins

• Made biggest jump of any player from last season into Top 10, climibing from No. 24 to a career-high No. 6 in Emirates ATP Rankings

• Captured biggest title of career at ATP World Tour 500 event in Washington, saving 1 MP vs Karlovic in final. Also runner-up in 2 other tournaments

• Compiled 19-7 match record in ATP Masters 1000 events and reached 3rd career Masters 1000 final at Monte-Carlo (d. No. 9 Tsonga, l. to No. 5 Nadal in 3 sets). Also reached SF in Toronto (d. No. 7 Raonic, l. to eventual champion Djokovic) and QFs at Indian Wells (l. to Raonic) and Miami (l. to No. 6 Nishikori after holding 5 MPs)

• Put together a 23-6 match record from July to rest of season in last 8 tournaments after 21-9 start from January through Wimbledon (l. to Chardy in 5 sets in 1R)

• Did not drop a set en route to 2nd Grand Slam SF at US Open (l. to No. 1 Djokovic in 4 sets). Afterwards returned to Top 10 on Sept. 12 for first time since week of Nov. 7, 2011. His previous best year-end ranking was No. 12 in 2010

• In 3 tournaments leading into London, reached SF in Tokyo (l. to eventual champion Kyrgios), 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Goffin) and 2R after bye in Stockholm (l. to Elias) on Oct. 20, his last match played

• Enjoyed career-long 9-match unbeaten streak and run to Rio Olympics QF (l. to No. 7 Nishikori after holding 3 MPs)

• Advanced to 1st Australian Open QF in 11th appearance (l. to Raonic) and following month lost to Klizan in Rotterdam title match

• Withdrew from Marseille (right leg), Munich (groin strain), Roland Garros and Halle (virus) and ATP Masters 1000 Paris (rib). Also conceded walkover to No. 9 Thiem in 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati (back)

30 & OVER DEBUTS: Monfils, at 30 yrs., 2 mons., is the sixth player in the history of the season finale, to make his tournament debut at the age of 30 or older, the first since 1972. Here are the players 30 & over to make their debut:

Gael Monfils 30 yrs., 2 mons. 2016 ???
Andres Gimeno 35 yrs., 3 mons. 1972 0-3 in round robin
Bob Hewitt 32 yrs., 10 mons. 1972 0-3 in round robin
Pierre Barthes 30 yrs., 2 mons. 1971 3-3 in round robin
Rod Laver 32 yrs., 3 mons. 1970 Runner-up
Ken Rosewall 36 yrs., 1 mon. 1970 3-2 in round robin

DOUBLES MATCHES – In Order of Play

[3] Bob Bryan (USA) vs [6] Ivan Dodig (CRO)
& Mike Bryan (USA) & Marcelo Melo (BRA)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Bryan/Bryan leads 6-3
2012 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (CAN) Hard (O) R16 BRYAN / BRYAN 7-5 6-2
2013 Wimbledon (GBR) Grass (O) F BRYAN / BRYAN 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4
2013 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (CHN) Hard (O) SF DODIG / MELO 6-7(5) 7-5 [10-7] 2013 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (FRA) Hard (I) SF BRYAN / BRYAN 6-4 7-5
2013 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (GBR) Hard (I) RR DODIG / MELO 3-6 6-3 [10-8] 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (MON) Clay (O) F BRYAN / BRYAN 6-3 3-6 [10-8] 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (GBR) Hard (I) F BRYAN / BRYAN 6-7(5) 6-2 [10-7] 2015 Roland Garros (FRA) Clay (O) F DODIG / MELO 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-5
2015 Washington (USA) Hard (O) F BRYAN / BRYAN 6-4 6-2

• Bryan/Bryan, qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the 15th time and last year reached SFs (l. to eventual champs Rojer/Tecau). They have a 35-20 match record at the tournament, winning titles in 2003 (d. Llodra-Santoro) and 2004 (d. W. Black-Ullyett) in Houston, in 2009 (d. Mirnyi-A. Ram) in Shanghai and 2014 in London (d. Dodig-Melo). Their 35 match wins is a tournament record. They also were finalists in 2008 (l. Nestor-Zimonjic) and 2013 (l. Marrero-Verdasco). In last title run two years ago, opened with round robin loss and then won four matches in a row to win title

• They enter London with a 46-20 match record on season and 16th straight year they have won at least 40 matches. They had won at least 60 matches in a season for 9 years in a row from 2006-14

• They compiled a 3-2 record in finals, highlighted by 3 clay court titles in Houston (saved 2 MPs in 1R vs Kudla/Young, Estrella Burgos/S. Gonzalez in F), Barcelona (d. Cuevas/Granollers) and ATP Masters 1000 Rome (d. Pospisil/Sock), their record 36tth Masters 1000 title. Put together 15-8 record in ATP Masters 1000 play with SF results in Miami, Cincinnati and Shanghai

• In Grand Slam play, compiled a 13-4 record with their best result a runner-up at Roland Garros (l. to Lopez/Lopez), which is also their last final reached in June. They have a 16-12 career record in Slam finals (last title came at 2014 US Open). Also 3R at Australian Open and QF at Wimbledon and US Open

• They have won a record 112 titles together and with their QF win over Cuevas/Troicki in Vienna, became first team in Open Era to win 1,000 matches as a team (1,001-311). Their streak of having won at least 5 titles in a season ended after a record 14 years in a row. Passed Jimmy Connors’ 109 singles championships for most ATP World Tour titles ever in singles or doubles in Open Era

• Lost 3 matches with combined 17 MPs: Memphis 1R vs Krajicek/Monroe (3 MPs), Delray Beach final vs Marach/Martin (6 MPs) and ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells QF vs Roger-Vasselin/Zimonjic (8 MPs)

• They fell to No. 9 and No. 10 in Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings on Apr. 18 (lowest since Aug. 26, 2002). Come into London ranked No. 5

• In Davis Cup, defeated Hewitt/Peers in 5 sets in 1R to improve to 13-0 in road ties and lost to Cilic/Dodig in QF

• Dodig/Melo are appearing in their 4th straight Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (8-5 record) and reached final in 2014 (l. to Bryan/Bryan). Also reached SF in 2013 debut with a 3-0 round robin record (l. eventual champs Marrero/Verdasco) and lasyear (l. to Bopanna/Mergea)

• They teamed up in 14 tournaments, compiling a 25-12 match record with back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 titles in Toronto (d. Murray/Soares) and Cincinnati (d. Rojer/Tecau). Also runner-up in Nottingham (l. Inglot/Nestor). Put together 13-5 record in ATP Masters 1000 play. In addition to pair of titles, reached SF in Monte-Carlo (l. to Murray/Soares) and Madrid (l. to Bopanna/Mergea after holding 1 MP)

• Best Grand Slam result was SF at Roland Garros (l. to eventual champs Lopez/Lopez) and 3R at Australian Open and Wimbledon and 1R at US Open, their last tournament they played together

• Dodig helped Croatia reach Davis Cup final (vs. Argentina) by compiling a 3-0 record, teaming w/Skugor to beat Bemelmans/Goffin in 1R and then w/Cilic to beat Bryan/Bryan in QF and Herbert/Mahut in SF. Only played in one doubles event post-US Open, in Basel (w/Zimonjic, l. in 1R). Saved 1 MP vs Herbert/Mladenovic to reach 1st mixed doubles final at Roland Garros w/Mirza (l. to Paes/Hingis)

• Melo ranked No. 1 for 17 weeks earlier this season and comes into London ranked No. 7. He reached QF at Rio Olympics w/Soares (d. Djokovic/Zimonjic, l. to Mergea/Tecau in 3 sets). Also won title in Vienna (w/Kubot). Teamed w/Nestor for Canadian’s 1,000th win in Sydney 1R (d. Chardy/Paes, l. to Kubot/Matkowski in QF)

[2] Jamie Murray (GBR) vs [8] Treat Huey (PHI)
& Bruno Soares (BRA) & Max Mirnyi (BLR)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: First-time Meeting

• Murray/Soares are appearing in their first Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and 1of 5 teams making their maiden appearance at the O2. This is the 2nd straight year-end finals showing for Murray, who was 1-2 last year (w/Peers). Soares is making his 3rd year-end finals appearance after qualifying in 2013-14 (w/Peya). They reached SFs in 2013 (l. to Bryans)

• This is 2nd straight year a brothers duo are playing in year-end finals in singles and doubles. Prior to last year, last brothers to qualify in season finale came in 1989 when John and Patrick McEnroe competed in same year. John reached SF at Masters in New York and Patrick won doubles title in London (w/Grabb)

• They come into London with a 38-16 match record (3-2 in finals), including an outstanding 17-2 mark in Grand Slam play, winning titles at Australian Open (d. Nestor/Stepanek) and at US Open (d. Herbert/Mahut in SF and Carreño Busta/Garcia-Lopez in F). Became first team to win 2 Slam titles in a season since Bryan/Bryan in 2013. Also advanced to QF at Wimbledon (d. Pavic/Venus 16-14 in 5th, l. to Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin 10-8 in 5th)

• In 2nd week of season in Sydney, captured maiden title together (d. Bopanna/Mergea). Then followed with title run in Melbourne, only dropping 2 sets

• In ATP Masters 1000 play, put together a 10-9 record with runner-up showings in Monte-Carlo (l. to Herbert/Mahut) and Toronto (l. to Dodig/Melo)

• Became 1st Briton to rank No. 1 in Emirates ATP Rankings (singles or doubles) on April 4 and held top spot for total of 9 weeks. Younger brother Andy became No. 1 in singles on Nov. 7. With Andy, became 1st brothers in Open Era to reach doubles and singles finals at same major, accomplishing feat at Australian Open

• Soares captured 3rd Grand Slam mixed doubles title in Melbourne w/Vesnina (d. Tecau/Vandeweghe 10-5 in Match TB). He also advanced to Rio Olympics QF w/Melo (d. Djokovic/Zimonjic, l. to Mergea/Tecau in 3 sets) and SF in Vienna. Reached a career-high No. 2 in doubles on Oct. 17 and came within one match win of becoming No. 1 but lost in QF at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (l. to Kontinen/Peers)

• Huey/Mirnyi are making their Barclays ATP World Tour Final debut. Mirnyi is making his 10th year-end finals appearance with a 6th different partner, first since 2012. Has a 20-15 career record and a 2-time champion, in 2006 (w/Bjorkman) and 2011 (w/Nestor). Also runner-up in 2009 (w/A. Ram) and 2010 (w/Bhupathi)

• Won lone ATP World Tour title of season in late February in Acapulco where they saved 2 MPs in 1R win over Guccione/Tomic (d. Petzschner/Peya in final). Mirnyi also earned his 700th career match win vs. Aussies

• Compiled 9-4 record in Grand Slam play with QF at Australian Open (d. Bopanna/Mergea, l. to Nestor/Stepanek) and SF at Wimbledon (l. to eventual champions Herbert/Mahut in 5 sets). Mirnyi made 20th straight appearance at All England Club and was playing with 14th partner. Also 3R at Roland Garros (l. to 2014 champs Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin)

• Best ATP Masters 1000 result of season was SF in Miami (d. Dodig/Melo in 2R, l. to Klaasen/Ram). Put together 9-7 in ATP Masters 1000 events

• Huey retired in Washington 1R and withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 Toronto due to lower back injury

• Mirnyi participated in 5th consecutive Olympic Games (w/Bury l. to Marach/Peya in 1R)

CAREER DOUBLES MATCH WINS LEADERS: Mirnyi is No. 5 among active players on the ATP World Tour with 726 career doubles match wins:

1. Daniel Nestor 1,035

2. Mike Bryan 1,016

3. Bob Bryan 1,002

4. Leander Paes 728

5. Max Mirnyi 726

Even elite tennis players, and Officers of the British Empire, sometimes take the Tube. Anyone riding the Jubilee line to North Greenwich station this week could find themselves looking across the carriage at Jamie Murray, who this year became the first Briton in singles or doubles to be the World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (he got there before his brother). 

For all that he has accomplished – including winning the Davis Cup last year, scoring his first two men’s doubles Grand Slam titles at this year’s Australian and US Opens, and being awarded the OBE – the older of the Murray brothers has been known to travel around London with an Oyster card. Last November, when he was playing with Australia’s John Peers, and when he qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time, Murray chose to take the Underground rather than a tournament car on the way to The O2. At the end of his first year with a new partner, Brazilian Bruno Soares, Murray is once again part of the field, and he might again be commuting by Tube.

No doubt Murray will mostly remember last year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the hugely disappointing defeat against Bob and Mike Bryan, after he and Peers failed to convert their five match points, when any one of them would have taken them into the semi-finals. Now, with Soares alongside him, he has another opportunity to win the most exclusive tournament on the ATP World Tour.

Murray’s “old-school game” has pleased the traditionalists in tennis, including David Macpherson, an Australian who for more than a decade coached the Bryan brothers.

“Jamie plays differently to most of the guys today. It’s obviously a great story that Andy Murray’s brother has come up so big in doubles, but even without that, Jamie is an interesting story. He plays some very attractive tennis. He has shots that hardly anyone else has,” said Macpherson. “He has beautiful touch, he has a nice lob, he uses dinks, and he gets to net. Jamie plays a kind of old-school tennis, and people love to see that. Over the last few years, Jamie has worked hard on his game, and he has really developed as a player. Every part of his game has improved, but his serving has got a lot more accurate and reliable. His returning has also improved immensely.”

On becoming the World No. 1 this year, Murray reflected on how he almost quit. “It’s an awesome feeling to get there, especially when you consider how close I came to packing it all in a few years ago. If it weren’t for my wife, Ale, and coach, Louis Cayer, who knows where I’d be now? They both believed that I could do great things. It took me a lot longer to realise it.”

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Of late, Jamie hasn’t had to look too far afield for inspiration. “I guess that over the last few years, seeing Andy do well all the time, I’ve wanted some of that success as well. I think the past 18 months, I have started to really show what I can do on the tennis court,” he said.

Only one Murray brother has ever won two Grand Slams in the same season and it’s the one who you might encounter on the Jubilee line, who spoke at the US Open of “starting to move out of Andy’s shadow a little bit”. As Jamie said in New York: “Look, he’s had a great year, but he couldn’t win this one [the US Open] and I did so, yeah, get it up you, Andy.”  •

Dominic Thiem has practised on the blue centre court at The O2. He’s eaten in player dining and walked around the expansive arena. He’s also sat in his own personal locker room.

Yet the 23 year old is still having a hard time convincing himself that he’s actually here, in southeast London, at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, among the Top 8 players in the world.

“Everything is very impressive. It’s a unique tournament… The way the players get treated, it’s very special. I still can hardly believe I made it here,” he said.

It has been a breakthrough season for Thiem. At the end of 2015, he was ranked No. 20 and had won three ATP World Tour titles, but they had all come on clay.

This season, the Austrian has more than shown his improved game on grass and hard courts. He’s won four ATP World Tour titles on three different surfaces – clay, grass and hard. He was also the only player to win at least 25 matches on clay and hard courts.

The Austrian also set career highs in match wins (57) and finals appearances (6). “It was an amazing year, and I never expected that it’s going to happen the way it happened,” he said.

Perhaps most impressive about Thiem’s 2016 has been his improved winning percentage during his closest matches. The right-hander leads the ATP World Tour with a 21-2 record in matches that have come down to a decisive set. Before this season, Thiem had a losing record in such contests (19-21).

The tournament will get very real for Thiem on Sunday. The youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings faces second seed Novak Djokovic for the fourth time. Thiem is going for his first win against Djokovic, who’s won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals the past four years.

The two played twice earlier this season, in the fourth round at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where Thiem fell 6-3, 6-4 and went one for 15 on break points. They also met in Paris during the Roland Garros semi-finals, where Djokovic advanced 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

“I know a little bit, what I have to expect. Still the last time I played him I think he was at his absolute peak, at Roland Garros. There was no chance for me, so I hope that he’s not playing like there because otherwise I think nobody has a chance against him,” Thiem said. “I just hope that I have a good start.”

Thiem, who is also the youngest player to qualify for the finale, doesn’t mind being the most youthful player in London. He hopes that he makes many returns to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and that some of his ATP World Tour counterparts join him during future seasons.

“Of course I hope that there are maybe one or two more young players here but still, it’s only eight spots,” Thiem said. “It’s really, really tough to get here. You have to play very consistent and [have] a successful season.”

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