Ticket sales for the ATP World Tour Finals in London this week have rocketed following Andy Murray's ascent to world number one.

The 29-year-old officially became the first British player ever to hit the top of the rankings in singles on Monday, overtaking Novak Djokovic.

The draw for the tournament took place the same day, placing Murray in a very tough group with US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori.

Djokovic, who has lifted the trophy at the O2 Arena for the last four years, will take on Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem in the round-robin event.

The battle for number one is beautifully poised, with whoever does better in London out of Murray and Djokovic set to hold on to top spot for the rest of the year.

The scenario appears to have captured the public imagination, with an ATP spokesman telling Press Association Sport there had been a "significant surge" in ticket sales since Monday.

The tournament has been a huge money-spinner for the ATP since moving to London in 2009, with capacity crowds for the majority of the sessions at the 17,500-seat venue.

It attracts an international audience and there had been fears this year's tournament might struggle to reach similar numbers given the absence through injury of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, tennis' two most popular stars.

This will be the first year Federer has not played at the O2, with the Swiss winning the title in 2010 and 2011, and his fans always descend on the Greenwich peninsula in large numbers.

Only four sessions are so far sold out, with tickets still available for Murray's opening match against Cilic on Monday evening, but tournament organisers say sales are tracking at a similar rate to previous years and total attendance is again on target to top 250,000.

Murray has struggled to perform at his best at the O2 during his career, reaching the semi-finals just twice and losing on both occasions.

He is determined to live up to his number one ranking with a better display this time and is likely to sacrifice a trip to Wembley on Friday.

The Scot and brother Jamie have been invited to the World Cup qualifying clash between England and Scotland by Scotland captain Darren Fletcher, who is a good friend of Jamie's.

But Andy has media duties as well as a busy day of practice planned and is unlikely to be able to make it.