Nadal the winner in ATP Finals draw

World No.1 Rafael Nadal couldn’t have hoped for a better group at the ATP Finals in London, placed alongside three opponents whom he has historically dominated.

The Spaniard owns a collective 17-3 winning record over Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, having lost just once in eight years to debutant Dimitrov and winning five of seven meetings against the floundering Thiem.

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2017 head-to-heads for @ATPWorldTour Finals groups.

Zverev on debut appearance ??https://t.co/qwjatrzSP6 pic.twitter.com/UMkvALEmwb

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) November 8, 2017

Second-ranked Roger Federer has been drawn in the tougher of the two groups, named after legends Pete Sampras and Boris Becker.

Federer is pitted against world No.3 Alexander Zverev – who’s twice beaten the Swiss – and major champion Marin Cilic, who beat Federer en route to his 2014 US Open title. Eleventh-hour qualifier Jack Sock rounds out that group.

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Nadal is bidding to win the season-ending event for the first time and his campaign was given a further boost by the fact that he undertook a training session in London without any tape on his troublesome knee.

His knee began to hamper him in Shanghai and forced his withdrawal from Basel and Paris.

Rafa practicing in London today, sans tape under knee. https://t.co/faJGNkCIG3

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) November 8, 2017

The ATP Finals field is a relatively new-look affair in 2017, with just two players – Cilic and Thiem – returning for the second straight year.

For various reasons, six players from last year’s event – Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Gael Monfils – missed the cut in 2017.