Roger Federer will face US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray and Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the tougher of the two round robin groups for the ATP World Tour Finals.

Group B in the end-of-season showpiece event features former world number one Rafael Nadal, recent Paris Masters champion Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and late-entrant Robin Soderling.

Soderling had failed to qualify for the eight-man event but was brought in following the withdrawal of Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, who has not played since injuring his left knee in Shanghai last month.

Murray, who has beaten Federer in six of their nine meetings, acknowledged that the draw had not been kind to him but was upbeat about his prospects of rounding off the year on a high in front of his own fans.

"In my group Federer is the best in the world, Del Potro has won the US Open and Verdasco has just had his best season to date. There are no easy matches regardless of what group you're in," Murray said.

"At the end of your career you're remembered for grand slams, but to win something like this, you have to beat five of the best players in the world in consecutive matches if you want to lift the trophy, which is a very difficult thing to do.

"You might even have to beat a Federer or a Nadal twice, so it's a very tough thing to win.

"Obviously I look forward to playing Roger. I've played Juan a few times on the tour recently and also had a close match recently with Verdasco indoors in Valencia (which he won on his way to a sixth title of the year).

"It's a tough group but if I play well I think I have a good chance of qualifying."

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is now on standby in case of any other withdrawals.

The top two players in each of the round robin groups advance to the semi-finals of the tournament, which starts Sunday at London's O2 Arena. The final is on November 29.

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AFP

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