World No 4 Milos Raonic meets Gael Monfils in Sunday's evening session of the World Tour Finals.
With Novak Djokovic expected to be the dominant force in the group, a win in their opening group game will set the tone for either Raonic or Monfils to advance to the last four, and a clash between the predictable power of Raonic and the flamboyant showmanship of Monfils should provide entertaining viewing.
The pair have met three times this year, Raonic has won twice but it was Monfils who got the better of things the last time they met in Canada. The Frenchman prevailed 6-4 6-4 that day, but Raonic was successful at Indian Wells and the Australian Open.
Raonic has been a doubt in the build-up to London having withdrawn from his semi-final with Andy Murray in Paris last weekend with a torn quadricep, Tomas Berdych the first alternate remains on stand-by if the Canadian doesn't make it.
It has been a memorable year for Raonic but could perhaps have been much more had it not been for injury.
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The 25-year-old began the year beating Roger Federer to claim the title in Brisbane, and he went on to reach the semi-final of the Australian Open when he led Andy Murray before injury struck to allow the new world No 1 to advance to the final in Melbourne.
It was also the Scot who scuppered his chances of adding to his sole title of the year, Murray beating Raonic in the finals at Queens and Wimbledon.
His fearsome serve looked like it was returning to its best in Paris last week before the quad problem, and it is his fitness that may hinder his hopes of success against the relentless Monfils, who is making his debut at the season-end event.
The supremely-talented Frenchman is now 30 but has never made a Grand Slam final and has failed to deliver on the rich promise he showed as a junior, but this year has represented a breakthrough as he is now up to a career-best six the world rankings.
In July, he claimed his first ATP title since 2014 while he has reached the last eight in four of the Masters Series events including the final in Monte Carlo, his first at that level since 2010.
Monfils leads the head-to-head between the pair 3-2 but with Djokovic also in the group, and having won every match he has played against the three other men in the group, a win will be crucial to any hopes of success.
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Barry Cowan, Annabel Croft and Mark Petchey cast their verdict
Kicking off the evening session will be Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares who face Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi in their opening group game.
Murray and Soares are chasing a maiden season-end title to go with the Australian and US Open titles they have already claimed, while they will also be hoping to end the year at the top of the rankings having slipped the French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
All the action from the O2 will be live on Sky Sports across the week and if you are out and about you __can follow on our Sky Sports apps and the website via our live blogs.
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