ATP World Tour Finals 2017: Final list of players who have qualified for London tournament

The stage is set for ATP World Tour Finals and an elite list of eight top-ranked stars will be participating in the year-ending tournament, starting November 12 in London.

While the likes of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka will be absent from the action, top-ranked stars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are set to resume their rivalry at the O2 Arena.

Notably, both the legends missed last year's tournament after deciding to give themselves enough time to recover from injuries.

While the race for the year-ending number one spot continued till the final of last year's ATP World Tour Finals (Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic to finish on top of the rankings in 2016), Nadal has already assured himself the coveted spot for the fourth time in his career.

Nadal doubtful

However, Nadal revealed he was unsure about his participation in the upcoming tournament following the knee injury he suffered in Paris last week.

The Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the Paris Masters quarter-final and he went on to say he would consider long-term benefits before taking a decision on his participation in the World Tour Finals.

If Nadal fails to make to it London, Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, who is "first alternate", will join the elite group.

Nonetheless, Federer, the six-time champion, will start as the favourite, given his form on hardcourts this season.

The 36-year-old, who won Wimbledon and Australian Open titles this year, also clinched the Sunshine double and recently asserted his dominance over Nadal on the hardcourts of Shanghai.

When is the draw ceremony

The draw ceremony will be held on Wednesday, November 8.

Players will be drawn into two groups named after Pete Sampras and Boris Becker.

Debutants in spotlight

Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev, who missed the Next Gen ATP Finals, will join the star-studded list in London. He will make his debut at the ATP Finals this year. The 20-year-old, who is touted as the next-big-thing in tennis, had a dream year, in which he broke into the top-five of ATP rankings for the first time.

Along with Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Jack Sock of the USA are making London debuts.

25-year-old Sock sealed the eighth and last spot when he defeated Serbian underdog Filip Krajinovic to win the Paris Masters title on Sunday, November 5.

The world number nine has become the first American player since Mardy Fish in 2011 to qualify for the prestigious year-ending tournament. Sock edged the likes of John Isner and Juan Martin del Potro, who were also in race for the spot during their Paris Masters campaigns last week.