Sunday 9 November 2014 13:38, UK
A confident Andy Murray heads to London's O2 with real ambitions of landing his first ATP World Tour Finals title at the season-ending extravaganza.
The world No 6, a two-time grand slam champion, has been drawn in Group B along with Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic.
The 27-year-old opens the tournament against Japanese trailblazer Nishikori on Sunday (not before 2pm GMT), with second-ranked Federer playing another first-timer in Milos Raonic in the evening (not before 8pm GMT), both live on Sky Sports 3.
Victories for both men would see them clash in a tantalising second group match on Tuesday.
Murray missed the eight-man showdown last year after having back surgery and, for a long time, it looked like he would not qualify this time after a difficult season.
But the British No 1 threw himself into the challenge, playing six tournaments in six weeks across two continents.
It was potentially risky but it paid off, with Murray's remarkable stubbornness in the face of adversity coming to the fore as he picked up his first three trophies of the season and booked his spot in London.
A week's rest has been very welcome and he is confident the heavy workload will not adversely affect his chances of success at the O2.
Murray said: "It's always hard to judge until you're on the match court but this week in practice I've been okay. The practices are hard, I've been practising with the best players in the world, so that's always tough, but it's good.
"Winning matches is how you play yourself into form and that's what I really needed to do at this stage of the year."
His run of tournaments began with victory in Shenzhen in China in September and took in Beijing and Shanghai before he returned to Europe with back-to-back trophies in Vienna and Valencia.
Reaching the quarter-finals at last week's Paris Masters earned him the final points he needed before the tiredness began to show in a defeat by Novak Djokovic.
He said of his schedule: "It was my idea. I said to (coaches) Dani (Vallverdu) and Amelie (Mauresmo) after New York that I wanted to play tournaments and get back to winning matches.
"I told them, 'I don't care if it's Futures, Challengers, I want to get back to winning tournaments again and have that feeling again'.
"I really wanted at the end of the year to be competing against the top players and get as many of those matches in as possible so that it would set me up really well for the beginning of next year."
Murray's ranking has climbed from a low of 12 almost two months ago to six, with the potential for more gains this week.
The one thing he has not yet achieved this year is beating one of his 'big four' rivals, and he is guaranteed to face at least one with Federer in his group.
He has lost to the Swiss twice in 2014, Djokovic four times and Rafael Nadal - absent from London following his appendix operation - twice.
The Scot said: "I was getting asked earlier in the year about not having beaten someone in the top 15, then someone in the top 12, top 10, top eight, then top five, and now obviously this is the last little step - maybe it's a big step but I've won against those players in the past and the more time I spend on court with them this year, the better for me for next year.
The crowd has always given me very good support when I've played here and when I've played at Wimbledon and Queen's throughout my whole career.
"Whether I win against one of them here or not remains to be seen. I'll give it my best shot but I still believe I can win against them and that's half the battle."
Murray also hopes to receive public support at the tournament located on the banks of the River Thames following his backing for Scottish independence on the eve of September's referendum.
"The crowd has always given me very good support when I've played here and when I've played at Wimbledon and Queen's throughout my whole career," he said.
"I hope this week that's the same but, if not, I'll do my job, I'll give my best effort regardless and hopefully win back some fans."
Murray leads US Open finalist Nishikori 3-0 in head-to-head meetings, although this will be their first meeting in 2014.
In the other contest, Federer will be looking to exact revenge for his Paris Masters quarter-final defeat at the hands of big-hitting Raonic. That victory was the Canadian's first success against the 17-time grand slam champion in seven attempts.
Watch Andy Murray take on Kei Nishikori from 12.30pm (GMT) and then Roger Federer against Milos Raonic from 6.30pm (GMT) - both live on Sky Sports 3.
