Saturday 21 October 2017 16:03, UK
The battle between Roger Federer and No 1 Rafael Nadal for the year-end top spot could go down to the wire with all roads leading to the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Federer may not have envisaged ending the season as world No 1 with the season-ending World Tour Finals his main target, but he has a realistic chance of overtaking old foe Nadal as the year reaches a thrilling climax.
Spaniard Nadal announced that he was skipping the Swiss Indoors in Basel - live on Sky Sports from October 23-29 - due to a knee injury.
Federer put on a masterclass to beat Nadal 6-4 6-3 at the Shanghai Masters earlier this month, with the 36-year-old lifting his sixth trophy this season and underlining a turnaround in fortunes against his long-time nemesis.
He has closed to within 1,960 points of Nadal with 500 on offer in Basel followed by the indoor tournament at Bercy in Paris where another 1,000 will be up for grabs.
And the battle for the year-end top spot could go down to the wire at the ATP Finals in London, which will be held from November 12-19 - live on Sky Sports - with the winner set to receive up to 1,500 points.
Nadal and Federer have each won six titles this year, splitting the four Grand Slams between them, but it's the world No 2 who ended a sequence of five straight defeats to Nadal in Basel last year, before winning their gripping Australian Open final in January.
He has won their past five encounters - including all four this year.
Federer is the top seed for the tournament, with Marin Cilic, David Goffin and Juan Martin del Potro all eyeing an upset in Swiss star's home town of Basel.
Sky Sports will also bring you coverage of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna where Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov headline the event, which begins on Monday.
Sky Sports will have all the action from the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and Swiss Indoors Basel before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the World Tour Finals this year? Have your say...
