Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has been forced to withdraw from the eighth Mubadala World Tennis Championship due to an injury to his right forearm.

World number 17 Feliciano Lopez will now compete in the fifth and sixth place play-off against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson on Friday.

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Lopez arrives in Abu Dhabi off the back of a season that saw him reach the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time in his career, where he eventually succumbed to the power of world number 1 Novak Djokovic.

His appearance at Flushing Meadows marked his 55th consecutive outing in a Grand Slam main draw and he enters 2016 with an impressive 33 wins over top 10 players.

Following Lopez vs Anderson, the New Year celebrations will continue with a Spanish showdown between an in-form David Ferrer and 14-time Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal.

New Year’s Day at Zayed Sports City will come to a close with the third match of the day when Milos Raonic takes on reigning French Open champ, Stan Wawrinka.