Murray gets kind draw in Toronto

Andy Murray will face a qualifier when he begins his North American hard-court season at the Toronto Masters, which starts on Monday.

The British number one has a bye in the first round, as the eighth seed, and will then play the winner of a match between two qualifiers.

The event sees Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal return to action for the first time since their epic Wimbledon final.

Nadal is in the same half of the draw as defending champion Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian beat Federer in last year's final and the world number one returns to Canada with his position as the world number one under threat, following defeat by Nadal at Wimbledon.

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"Federer is fighting for his no.1 ranking like never before with Nadal breathing down his neck - he needs to win this event"
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Federer will play Gilles Simon or a qualifier in the second round, with sixth seed Andy Roddick a potential quarter-final opponent.

French Open and Wimbledon champion Nadal, who will be looking to overhaul Federer in the rankings over the coming weeks, faces Marcos Baghdatis or Peter Polansky first.

Djokovic begins against Mario Ancic or Frank Dancevic, with Murray seeded to be waiting in the last eight.

Should the Scot come through his opening test he is likely to play Wimbledon semi-finalist Marat Safin or Stanislas Wawrinka for a place in the quarter-finals.

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