Roger Federer is looking forward to taking on home hope Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday.
World number one looking to improve on Murray record
Roger Federer is looking forward to taking on home hope Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday, when he gets a chance to avenge a defeat 12 months ago.
In last year's tournament in Shanghai, Murray ended the world number one's hopes of progressing past the group phase with a thrilling three-set victory, coming through 4-6 7-6 7-5.
The Brit is one of a few players to hold a lead in head-to-heads with the tennis legend, currently claiming a 6-3 advantage, and Federer is expecting another tricky tie against the world number four.
"Obviously I expect a difficult match. It's always fun playing your fellow rivals. I think Andy has been one of the guys I played the most," Federer said.
"From Shanghai last year, I remember I was not going into the match with the highest of hopes. I knew I had only a little bit left in the tank because I was sick two days before.
"I was injured two or three weeks before. So I kind of just said to myself, you know what, I'll play aggressive and see what happens.
Expectations
"I was playing incredible for a set. I almost got a victory. But I thought it was a very exciting match to be a part of.
"It was unfortunate for me not to come through. But I still think the match was great. I hope we can live up to the expectations and play another good one."
Federer may need to improve upon his erratic performance against Fernando Verdasco on Sunday, when he overcame the loss of the first set to win 4-6 7-5 6-1.
"I just felt that sort of at the beginning of the second set, I was starting to return better. The whole first set I was struggling to really put normal returns into play," Federer said.
"That can happen at times. I thought he did a good job of mixing it up and playing aggressive at times, coming up with the right play.
"I was down a set and only in the second set was I able to sort of get the ball into play, find my range, find my rhythm. I think this is also when I started to feel like I had chances.
"But it was a crucial match for me to get off with a win in the round robin stages. Because Fernando is a great player and I'm happy I was able to come through."
