Federer pulls out of possible showdown with Murray

Roger Federer has dropped out of the ATP Cup in January, meaning there will be no showdown with Andy Murray.

The 38-year-old, currently ranked third in the world, had committed to playing the inaugural tournament in Australia at the start of 2020, but has opted out in order to spend more time with his family.

The team competition sees 24 countries compete against each other – initially in a round-robin group stage – and Federer’s Switzerland side were scheduled to start their campaign against Murray’s Great Britain in Sydney on 3 January.

It would have been the first meeting between the two since a semi-final in Cincinnati four years ago. But with Federer desperate to try and win a maiden Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in August, he is keen to keep himself fresh.

“It is with great regret

ROGER FEDERER “The extra two weeks at home will be beneficial for my family and my tennis” that I am withdrawing from the inaugural ATP Cup event,” said Federer.

“After much discussion with both my family and my team about the year ahead, I have decided that the extra two weeks at home will be beneficial for both my family and my tennis.”

As a result of his withdrawal, Switzerland drop out of the tournament as they only qualified due to Federer’s ranking.

Defending champion Elina Svitolina booked her place in the last four at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen with a straight-sets win over Simona Halep. Svitolina beat the Romanian 7-5, 6-3 to add to Monday’s win over Karolina Pliskova in the Purple Group.

Kyle Edmund enjoyed a straight-sets win over Diego Schwartzman at the Rolex Paris Masters to book a showdown with world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the last 16. The British No 3 won 7-5, 6-3.