The 'Masters Grand Prix' as it was first known, began in 1970 and boasts an illustrious list of former winners.
The perfect end to another dramatic season.
The 'ATP World Tour Finals' as it is now known, began as the 'Masters Grand Prix' in 1970 and boasts an illustrious list of former winners.
Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl (five times) both hold the record for the most titles, the latter reaching nine consecutive finals from 1980-88.
The competition was created by the International Tennis Federation as an end-of-year showpiece for the top eight ranked male players.
American Stan Smith won the inaugural event, reigning in Tokyo in December 1970, before the venue switched to Paris the following year.
Romanian Ilie Nastase triumphed three out of the following four years, only Guillermo Vilas' Melbourne success in 1974 briefly ending his dominance.
From 1977-1989 the Masters was contested at Madison Square Garden, American heroes Jimmy Connors and John McInroe popular winners of the title in '77 and '78 respectively.
Bjorn Borg added to his already glittering trophy cabinet in 1979-80, however from there on it was New Yorker McInroe and Czech ace Lendl who dominated the year-ending event.
Eight-time Grand Slam winner Lendl reached a staggering nine finals on the bounce, winning five and losing four. McInroe delighted his home crowd in '83 and '84 while Borg (1980) and Boris Becker (1988) also triumphed.
Hewitt delight
Stefan Edberg won what was to be the final Masters played in New York, Frankfurt and Hannover hosting the 'ATP Tour World Championships' from 1990-99.
It was from this point onwards that world ranking points were now at stake, with an undefeated champion earning the same number of points they would for winning one of the four Grand Slam events.
'Pistol Pete' Sampras was the chief beneficiary during this period, claiming five titles with victories over Jim Courier, Boris Becker (1994 and '96), Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Andre Agassi.
The 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (7-11) 6-4 triumph over Becker in 1996 was hailed by many as the greatest match of that decade.
The competition changed name once again in 1999, 'The Tennis Masters Cup' created on December 9. And the next tournament was to end in dramatic fashion.
Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten shocked the world by ending 2000 as the first ever South American to be ranked No.1 - Sampras and Agassi both dispatched by the flamboyant right-hander at the event.
Australian Lleyton Hewitt delighted his home fans in Sydney in 2001 before recording back-to-back titles in Shanghai the following year.
Federer got his hands on the prize for the first time in Houston in 2003, a venue he reigned at once again the following year with a straight-sets demolition of Hewitt.
Shanghai played host to the event from 2005-2008, Argentina's David Nalbandian shocking Federer 7-6 in the fifth set to take the '05 title before the Swiss ace reasserted his dominance in 2006 and '07.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic became the 19th winner of the event in 2008, with the O2 Arena in London braced to welcome the world's finest from 2009-2012.
