But before that, the Swede would have to get past another Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. The draw for the Capitala World Tennis Championship which was announced on Tuesday, pits Soderling against Federer’s good friend Wawrinka in the second match of the opening day.

The Capitala World Tennis Championship, which offers a winner-take-all $250,000, runs from December 31 to January 2.

The opening day at the impressive 5000-seater Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex will see World No.10 Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga take on World No.7 Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in the first match of the day, followed by the match between World No.9 Robin Soderling and World No.21 Stanislas Wawrinka. Wawrinka was a replacement for World No.8 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who withdrew because of a foot injury.

World No.1 Roger Federer and World No.2 Rafael Nadal have received byes. Soderling, who lost to Federer in the French Open final and also at Wimbledon and the US Open, would be looking for revenge if he gets past Wawrinka. The winner of the Soderling-Wawrinka encounter meets Federer on Day Two.

Beijing Olympics

But Wawrinka, who won the gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, would not be a pushover. The Swiss has beaten Federer at the Monte Carlo Masters earlier in the year and will be looking for another shot at his countryman.

Wawrinka and Soderling are tied 1-1 head-to-head. The two last met in the second round of the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, and Soderling won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The winner of the Tsonga and Davydenko fixture will advance through to play world No.2 Rafael Nadal.

Should Davydenko get through against Tsonga, Nadal has some unfinished business against the Russian. Southpaw Nadal had lost to Davydenko at the Shanghai Masters in October.

John Lickrish, Managing Director of Flash Entertainment, said: “With such a fantastic line-up of the world’s top players there was never any doubt that whichever way the player draw went we would see some thrilling tennis at the Capitala World Tennis Championship. The players loved the event last year and that was reflected in the quality tennis that was played and the atmosphere that was generated in the stadium. There is no doubt that the three days are going to provide some fantastic tennis and following the draw the sense of excitement will be even greater.”

The championship, which is not sanctioned by the ATP but will adopt the ATP rules of play, acts as a tune-up for the first Grand Slam of the year — the Australian Open.

Americans ‘A-Rod’ Andy Roddick and James Blake, who took part in the inaugural event, will be absent this time around. Murray, who tamed Federer and then Nadal in the final which lasted two hours and 45 minutes, will not come back to defend his title as the 22-year-old from Dunblane, Scotland would be preparing for the Australian Open.

There will be a third place play-off on the final day.