Murray to face Federer in Finals group

Britain’s Andy Murray will face Roger Federer in the group stages of the ATP World Tour Finals in London, it was announced yesterday.

The 23-year-old Murray has got the better of the Swiss star in their last two meetings, both times winning in straight sets to win Masters titles in Toronto and Shanghai.

But he lost to Federer in the Australian Open final in January, a defeat that left Murray still searching for a first ‘grand slam’ title.

Also drawn in Group B alongside Federer and Murray, who dropped down to fifth in the world rankings after Robin Soderling won the Paris Masters last week, were Soderling and David Ferrer.

Group A will be contested by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Andy Roddick.

Last year, Murray missed out on a semi-final spot by one game to Juan Martin del Potro.

The Argentine was not in this year’s draw, having missed most of the season with a wrist injury while a similar problem effectively prevented Nikolay Davydenko from defending his title.

Murray’s only defeat from three matches last year came against Federer but wins over Del Potro and Fernando Verdasco were not enough to prevent an early exit.

This year’s tournament starts on Sunday.