Rafael Nadal and reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas have been drawn in the same group as London prepares to host its final – and very different – ATP Finals.
The ATP had hoped to go out with a bang after 12 hugely successful years at The O2 Arena, with the tournament also celebrating its 50th anniversary.
But the coronavirus pandemic means the event will take place behind closed doors before it moves to Turin next year.
The groups have been named Tokyo 1970 and London 2020 to mark the half-century, and it was the latter group in which Nadal, still chasing his first victory at the season-ending event, and Tsitsipas were placed at Thursday’s draw.
Joining Nadal and Tsitsipas will be US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who has recovered from a foot problem, and Russian debutant Andrey Rublev.
Novak Djokovic heads the Tokyo group and will take on in-form duo Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, who contested the Paris Masters final last weekend, and the second debutant, Argentinian Diego Schwartzman.
Djokovic recently tied Pete Sampras’ record of being the year-end world number one on six occasions and victory in the capital would see him equal Roger Federer’s tally of six ATP Finals victories.
The Serb, who opted not to play at the Paris Masters, won four titles in a row between 2012 and 2015, when Andy Murray stopped his winning streak, but has not lifted the trophy since then.