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Federer will open against Verdasco in London

Thu 19th, November 2009

London, England (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Roger Federer will open his 2009 ATP World Tour Finals against dangerous seventh-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, when round-robin play commences Sunday at O2 Arena.

Federer-Verdasco will be preceded by the first bout of the week, which will pit fourth-seeded Andy Murray against fifth-seeded U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who stunned Federer in September's Grand Slam final in New York.

The Day-2 schedule for Monday was also announced, as second-seeded Rafael Nadal will battle eighth-seeded French Open runner-up Robin Soderling and third-seeded and defending World Tour Finals titlist Novak Djokovic will encounter sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in a rematch of last year's finale, which was won by Djokovic in Shanghai. The free-swinging Soderling handed Nadal the Spaniard's first-ever French Open loss back in May.

The Swiss superstar Federer headlines the four-man "Group A," which is rounded out by the heavy British crowd favorite Murray, the Argentine del Potro and Verdasco, who is making his debut at this prestigious event. The men's all-time Grand Slam king Federer is the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champ and captured this lucrative eight-player event in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 and was the runner-up in 2005. Scotland's Murray led the tour with six titles this year.

A four-player "Group B" features the Australian Open champion Nadal, a red- hot Djokovic, Davydenko and Soderling, who, like Verdasco, is making his debut in this tournament after replacing injured Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick in the field. The surging former Aussie Open champion Djokovic has won three of his last four tournaments, including two straight. He toppled Federer in a final in the Swiss great's hometown of Basel two weeks ago, and is fresh off his Masters championship in Paris last week.

Federer will try to finish as a year-end No. 1 for a fifth time in six years, while Nadal has a shot to nail down the honor for a second straight season.

With over 250,000 fans expected over eight days at The O2, this will be the world's biggest-ever indoor tennis tournament.