Andy Murray came to know on Monday that he will be facing Stanislas Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic in the group stages of the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals, starting 13 November in London.
The newly-crowned world number one player has a head-to-head record of 27-12 against his group opponents - (9-7 against Wawrinka), (7-2 against Nishikori) and (11-3 against Cilic). However, a match record of 73-9 in 2016, which includes Wimbledon crown and Rio Olympic Men's singles gold medal, makes the Briton favorite to proceed to the final stages of the tournament.
While the world number three and US Open champion Wawrinka is a hard nut to crack, Murray lost his Cincinnati final against Cilic and New York quarter-final against Nishikori earlier this year. However, the 29-year-old believes he is ready to survive the "extremely tough" matches at The O2 from Sunday.
"You're playing against the best players in the world in this event. The top eight players are here, and every match is extremely tough," Murray was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.
"I look forward to getting out there. It's obviously an amazing atmosphere, playing at The 02."
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic, who was dethroned from the top spot of ATP rankings after 122 weeks of domination, has found himself in a relatively easier group consisting Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem, against whom he has a perfect 23-0 record.
Also, doubts remain over the fitness of Raonic, who withdrew from the semi-final of Paris Masters with a thigh injury on Saturday. Nevertheless, Djokovic is eyeing a fifth consecutive title at the year-ending tournament.
On the other hand, Murray has never reached the final in his seven appearances so far. He needs to maintain his intensity and match whatever Djokovic achieves in the tournament to clinch the year-end number one spot for the first time.
ATP World Tour Finals 2016 Draw
| Group John McEnroe | Group Ivan Lendl |
| [1] Andy Murray | [2] Novak Djokovic |
| [3] Stanislas Wawrinka | [4] Milos Raonic |
| [5] Kei Nishikori | [6] Gael Monfils |
| [7] Marin Cilic | [8] Dominic Thiem |
Date: 13 to 20 November
Venue: O2 Arena, London.
Format
- The group stages will be played in a round-robin format with each player facing his group mates once.
- The top two players from each group progress to the semi-final of the tournament.
