Roger Federer's bid for a fourth Tennis Masters Cup title was given a boost when the world number one received a seemingly uncomplicated draw on Wednesday.
The Swiss was drawn with American Andy Roddick, Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez at the eight-man tournament beginning in Shanghai this weekend.
Federer, who has won the prestigious season-ending event for three of the last four years, has a combined win-loss record of 34-1 against his three Group One opponents.
World number two Rafael Nadal will face Serbian Novak Djokovic, Frenchman Richard Gasquet and fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in round-robin competition.
The top two players from each group go through to the semi-finals. Nadal will play Gasquet in Sunday's opening match, to be followed by Djokovic against Ferrer.
The final of the $ 4.45-million tournament takes place on Nov. 18.
