Dominic Thiem has practised on the blue centre court at The O2. He’s eaten in player dining and walked around the expansive arena. He’s also sat in his own personal locker room.

Yet the 23 year old is still having a hard time convincing himself that he’s actually here, in southeast London, at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, among the Top 8 players in the world.

“Everything is very impressive. It’s a unique tournament… The way the players get treated, it’s very special. I still can hardly believe I made it here,” he said.

It has been a breakthrough season for Thiem. At the end of 2015, he was ranked No. 20 and had won three ATP World Tour titles, but they had all come on clay.

This season, the Austrian has more than shown his improved game on grass and hard courts. He’s won four ATP World Tour titles on three different surfaces – clay, grass and hard. He was also the only player to win at least 25 matches on clay and hard courts.

The Austrian also set career highs in match wins (57) and finals appearances (6). “It was an amazing year, and I never expected that it’s going to happen the way it happened,” he said.

Perhaps most impressive about Thiem’s 2016 has been his improved winning percentage during his closest matches. The right-hander leads the ATP World Tour with a 21-2 record in matches that have come down to a decisive set. Before this season, Thiem had a losing record in such contests (19-21).

The tournament will get very real for Thiem on Sunday. The youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings faces second seed Novak Djokovic for the fourth time. Thiem is going for his first win against Djokovic, who’s won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals the past four years.

The two played twice earlier this season, in the fourth round at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where Thiem fell 6-3, 6-4 and went one for 15 on break points. They also met in Paris during the Roland Garros semi-finals, where Djokovic advanced 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

“I know a little bit, what I have to expect. Still the last time I played him I think he was at his absolute peak, at Roland Garros. There was no chance for me, so I hope that he’s not playing like there because otherwise I think nobody has a chance against him,” Thiem said. “I just hope that I have a good start.”

Thiem, who is also the youngest player to qualify for the finale, doesn’t mind being the most youthful player in London. He hopes that he makes many returns to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and that some of his ATP World Tour counterparts join him during future seasons.

“Of course I hope that there are maybe one or two more young players here but still, it’s only eight spots,” Thiem said. “It’s really, really tough to get here. You have to play very consistent and [have] a successful season.”

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Roger Federer added to his record haul of ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, adding two more trophies in 2016 to take his tally to 33 since 2003.

The 35-year-old was selected by fans as the ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon for a 14th straight year and by fellow players as winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for a 12th time.

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Federer shared a special video message during the Awards ceremony at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Official Launch Party presented by Moët & Chandon, held Thursday evening at the Cutty Sark in London.

“I just wanted to thank all the fans who have voted for me for ATP Fans’ Favourite,” he said. “This is probably the toughest year I’ve had on tour by far with the injuries and the only 7-10 tournaments I was able to play this year. This award this year means the most to me by virtue of the tough year that I’ve had, so thank you to everybody for coming out to vote for me.”

The 35-year-old Swiss received 56 per cent of all votes cast by fans. Andy Murray finished second, followed by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori. For the player-voted Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award category, he beat out fellow nominees Murray, Nadal and Stan Wawrinka, extending his reign to six straight years. He also won the award six straight years from 2004-09.

“The Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award voted by the players is fantastic,” he said. “I really appreciate it. I try to be a good sport on the court and then of course that players think I’m a good role model or a good guy to play against, that’s really cool, but there’s a lot of other good guys out there who do exactly the same, if not better, so thank you to those guys as well.”

Federer has also won ATP World Tour No. 1 presented by Emirates five times (2004-07, 2009) and the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award twice (2006, 2013). This year’s ATP World Tour No. 1 has yet to be decided, with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic battling this coming week at The O2 for the year-end honours. The Swiss stated that he would be paying close attention to the season finale, where he is a six-time champion.

“I’ll be following the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals on TV as close as possible because I think it’s one of the best tournaments we have on tour,” he said. “I think it’s going to be really, really exciting.”

For the second time, players voted Juan Martin del Potro as the Comeback Player of the Year in the ATP World Tour Award presented by Moët & Chandon following a successful return from wrist injury. The 28-year-old Argentine is the third player after Sergi Bruguera and Tommy Haas to win this category twice.

He sent a video message from his native Tandil to accept his award during Thursday night’s ceremony at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Official Launch in London.

“Thank you very much for this award… I want to thank my fellow players for choosing me,” he said. “It was a very special year to me. I didn’t expect the result that I had, and I’m so happy to share this award with you.”

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Del Potro was previously voted by his peers as the Comeback Player of the Year in 2011. He finished back in the Top 10 in 2013, only to be sidelined again – this time by a left wrist injury requiring multiple surgeries. Outside the Top 1000 of the Emirates ATP Rankings early in 2016, del Potro made his return in February with a semi-final effort at the Delray Beach Open and rose to No. 38 by November with a 30-match win effort.

Among his season highlights, del Potro beat then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal en route to a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, made the quarter-finals of the US Open and won his first tour-level title since 2014 at the If Stockholm Open, securing his return to the Top 50. Julien Benneteau, Ivo Karlovic and Florian Mayer were also nominated in this category.