The ATP Finals—the season-ending championship of men's tennis—begins on Sunday, November 9 in London. Over the next four days, we'll take a closer look at the seasons put forth so far by the eight singles competitors.

It was the best of times and the worst of times for the seven-time major champion, who began 2014 with a new coach and ended it with a new addition to his family. In between, he abdicated his throne at the Australian Open, was stymied—once again—by Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, and experienced growing pains with Boris Becker, who was brought in to help the uber-talented Serb get over the hump in the most important matches. None was bigger than the Wimbledon final, where another crushing collapse seemed destined after Roger Federer saved a match point in the fourth set. But Djokovic fought through in five, stopping the bleeding and changing the tenor of his entire season. You could even see it in his wedding photos, taken just days later.

Unquestionably, his win at Wimbledon—a result that may end up tilting the year-end No. 1 race in his favor, over Federer.

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His loss at the French Open wasn't as dramatic as last year's, but it was no less painful. Despite scoring another win over Rafa at an important clay-court tune-up, Djokovic couldn't collect the final piece of his Grand Slam puzzle. The pressure will continue to mount in Paris.

A lot, because of how well Federer has played. Djokovic needs to accumulate as many points as possible to ensure he’ll finish the year No. 1; anything less than a title defense means he will lose ground in the 12-month rankings formula.

ATP World Tour Finals Previews

November 5: Marin Cilic

November 5: Roger Federer  
November 6: Novak Djokovic  
November 6: Milos Raonic  
November 7: Andy Murray  
November 7: Stan Wawrinka  
November 8: Tomas Berdych  
November 8: Kei Nishikori