The best of the best are ready to give it a whirl for one final competition -- well that's if you don't include Davis Cup, something that Federer guy has his eye on. For the sixth straight year, the O2 Arena in London will be the home of the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals, and while some of the usual suspects will be in action, we'd be remiss if we didn't give some love to the three-first timers.
Welcome to the big show, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic. The bad news for this trio, though, is that a newbie hasn't won this event since Alex Corretja in 1998. But the good news is that none will have to face Rafael Nadal, who would be in the third spot on this list if he weren't out for the rest of the season recovering from an appendectomy. Because of his absence, we'll include a ninth player to fill out this list.
So what's the forecast for these players? Let's have a look, shall we?
Player: No. 1 Novak Djokovic
2014 record: 57-8
2014 titles: 6
ATP World Tour History: 19-9, 3 titles
Djokovic is the two-time defending champ in London, who comes into the year-enders fresh off his Paris Masters triumph. After a summerlong slump (relatively speaking), the Serb is pretty much a lock to finish as the world No. 1 for the third time in four years.
Player: No. 2 Roger Federer
2014 record: 68-11
2014 titles: 5
ATP World Tour History: 44-11, 6 titles
���� Tower Bridge pic.twitter.com/1bNjszbIiZ
- Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) November 6, 2014
What more can you say about the ageless 33-year-old, who is the oldest player to qualify for the year-enders in nine years? Since August, Federer has gone 28-3 with three titles, and he leads all players with 68 match wins in 2014.
No. 4 Stan Wawrinka
2014 record: 36-15
2014 titles: 3
ATP World Tour History: 2-2, 2013 semifinalist
Wawrinka crushed his way up the ATP ladder earlier this season with wins at the Aussie Open and Monte Carlo. But the Swiss No. 2 heads into the year-enders with a 1-4 record in his past five matches.
No. 5 Kei Nishikori
2014 record: 52-12
2014 titles: 4
ATP World Tour History: First appearance
Nishikori has long been one of the tour's most talented players, but he has also been injured for a good part of his career. At this year's US Open, Nishikori beat three top-10 players en route to the final. In London, he'll become the first Japanese-born player to compete in the prestigious World Tour Finals.
No. 6 Andy Murray
2014 record: 58-18
2014 titles: 3
ATP World Tour History: 9-7, three-time semifinalist
It looked dire for a while, but Murray's end-of-year mad scramble propelled him to the year-enders for the seventh straight year. In the past six weeks, Murray has won three titles -- his first three titles of 2014.
No. 7 Tomas Berdych
2014 record: 54-20
2014 titles: 2
ATP World Tour History: 5-8, 2011 semifinalist
Eyes Eyes Baby ...#hmsport pic.twitter.com/SWSLaEb417
- Tomáš Berdych (@tomasberdych) November 6, 2014
No player in the field is more enigmatic than Berdych, who has qualified for London for the fifth straight season. Berdych is 13-4 in his past five tournaments, which bodes well for the year-enders, though he reached only two combined semifinals at a Masters Series and Grand Slam events this year.
No. 8 Milos Raonic
2014 record: 49-18
2014 titles: 1
ATP World Tour History: First appearance
Great team picture!! ��#LondonCalling @theljubicic @sirola11 @ClaudioZimaglia @RPiatti PHOTO: @DANILOPIZZORNO pic.twitter.com/dSvam0kirj
- Milos Raonic (@milosraonic) November 6, 2014
We finally saw the true ascent of Raonic in 2014. He served his way to the Wimbledon semis and took down Federer just a couple of weeks ago in the Paris Masters semis, a match the Canadian calls his biggest career win. Raonic reached the quarterfinals or better in seven of nine Masters events this season.
No. 9 Marin Cilic
2014 record: 54-18
2014 titles: 4
ATP World Tour History: First appearance
A year ago, Cilic's tennis future seemed tenuous after he was suspended for taking illegal substances. This year, he can call himself a US Open champ and legitimate star. The Croat has jumped 28 spots to No. 9 in the world, and to date, he has won 54 matches in 2014.