Soderling trips Nadal again

London: Sweden's Robin Soderling turned out to be Rafael Nadal's nemesis, this time at the ATP World Tour Finals, beating him 6-4, 6-4 in their opening Group B round-robin clash here yesterday.

Soderling, who ended Nadal's 32-match winning streak at the French Open this year, again proved a tough opponent for the Spaniard whose hopes of knocking Roger Federer off the top of the world rankings here are now fading fast.

Federer, meanwhile, is seeking to avenge an earlier loss he suffered at the hands of Andy Murray when the two stars meet tonight.

Murray and Federer met in Shanghai in this competition last year and the Briton secured a three-set win that sent the defending champion home early.

Federer said he was expecting a tough encounter against the home favourite.

"Well, obviously I expect a difficult match and it is always fun playing your fellow rivals... I think Andy has been one of those I have played the most.

"I played him at the start of the season in Doha and then I just played him in Shanghai the week before and then was it Indian Wells as well. So I've played him on a few occasions in a row," Federer said.

"I think the match [in Shanghai last year] was great. I hope we can live up to the expectations and play another good one," Federer added.

Coming to terms

On Sunday, Federer took three sets late to dismiss Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. The Swiss player took his time to come to terms with the surface — completed less than 48 hours before the clash — as Verdasco made maximum use of the opportunities that came his way.

However, the Spaniard was unable to last the whole distance as Federer won 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to set up tonight's encounter with Murray.

Sunday's result against Verdasco takes Federer to a career 4-0 record against his Spanish opponent.

"It was crucial for me to get off with a win in the round robin stages because Fernando is a great player and I am happy I was able to come through," Federer admitted.

Today's schedule: (12.30 pm/4.30 pm UAE) Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles vs Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski; (2.15 pm/6.15 pm UAE) Juan Martin del Potro vs Fernando Verdasco. (7 pm/11pm UAE) Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic vs Frantisek Cermak/Michal Mertinak; (8.45 pm/12.45 am UAE) Roger Federer vs Andy Murray.