Federer injury may favour Murray
Andy Murray will face a familiar and possibly vulnerable foe in the Tennis Masters Cup, which gets under way in Shanghai tomorrow.
The British number one – beaten by Roger Federer in this year’s US Open final before getting his revenge in Madrid – has another date with the world number two in round-robin play this week.
Also lying in wait for the Scot will be Andy Roddick and Gilles Simon – two other players who have beaten Federer this year.
Federer admits he is unsure if his back will hold up, having had to withdraw from the Paris Masters last week.
He is the top seed at the prestigious eight-player season finale, in the absence of the injured Rafael Nadal, and comes in to the event as the two-time reigning champion.
The 27-year-old – who will start the defence of his title against Frenchman Simon on Monday, when Murray begins his campaign against Roddick – has been able to practise pain-free.
Asked about his injury, Federer said: “It’s way better than last Friday.
“(But) I’m not sure (what to expect against Simon), because I haven’t been pushing it to the very limit. It just needs as much time as possible.”
Also a back-to-back winner of this event in 2003 and 2004, Federer is aiming to join Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl as the only players with five titles.
But even though he has won four of the last five, and finished runner-up in 2005, the Swiss superstar still has something to prove this time.
The 13-time grand slam champion has won 65 matches and four titles this season, including his fifth straight US Open crown – but has also lost 13 times, in a year which has seen Nadal take centre stage.
“It is a challenge to get back to number one,” Federer said.
“I’m here to win. I’m not here just to participate.”
Murray, Federer, Simon and Roddick comprise the Red Group – while the Gold Group contains Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro.
