Shanghai - France's Gilles Simon will get a test of fire in his opening group match at the Masters Cup starting on Sunday when he faces holder Roger Federer.

Simon only squeezed into the field on Monday when world number one Rafael Nadal withdrew with a knee injury, now diagnosed as tendinitis.

Federer has won the last two editions in Shanghai and hopes to end the four-year run in China for the year-end event with a trophy hat-trick.

The Swiss who quit the Paris Masters last week with back pains, has won five Masters trophies and is top seed at the 4.45 million-dollar showcase.

Andy Murray and Andy Roddick make up the remaining members of Federer's Red group.

On the Gold side, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic heads that quartet ahead of Russian Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. the last two newcomers to the tournament.

The top two finishers in each group reach the semi-finals, with a best-of-three final on Sunday November 16 at the Qi Zhong stadium, which will become a Masters 1000 venue from next October as the year-end event ups stakes for London. (dpa)