LONDON, July 4: The men's international tennis circuit will end with a prestigious final in London from 2009 under a four-year contract announced on Tuesday.

The Masters Cup, staged in Shanghai for the last two years, is being renamed the ATP World Tour Final and is being switched to London's O2 Arena, formerly known as the Millennium Dome.

The world's top eight singles players and doubles teams from the ATP tour, which stages 63 tournaments in 30 countries, will compete for a prize pot of $4.5 million.

Any current holder of a Grand Slam title – Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens – who is not ranked in the top eight is also invited to participate.

Four-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer welcomed the venue switch, saying “I love to come to London for the (Wimbledon) championships each summer so I am delighted the end of season championships will be moving to one of my favourite cities.”

Wimbledon, the world's top grasscourt tournament, has been badly disrupted by rain this summer but ATP chairman Etienne de Villiers joked that at least the O2 Arena was spared the vagaries of the British climate.

Announcing the tour deal, he joked: “The players may not like the weather here but this place (O2) has a roof... and they love London.”

“Having our end of season finale in such a diverse city could not be more appropriate,” he said of the final that will be staged in November from 2009 to 2012, when London is also the venue for the Summer Olympics.

The tournament will be played on a hard court in the newly renovated 20,000-seat arena, which is scheduled to stage concerts by the Rolling Stones and Elton John this year.

No television contracts have yet been finalised but de Villiers, with an eye on the lucrative American market, said the event would be staged in afternoon and evening sessions.

“We don't want Americans to wake up at 6:00am. It is too unhealthy,” he said.—Reuters