Swede Robin Soderling returned to haunt Rafael Nadal on Monday with a 6-4 6-4 victory as battle commenced in Group B at the ATP World Tour finals.

Nadal’s already slim chances of knocking Federer off the top of the world rankings now hang by a thread and defeat against Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in the second of his three round-robin matches on Wednesday would almost certainly mean the Spaniard will not reach the semi-finals.

Davydenko was beaten by Serbia’s defending champion Novak Djokovic 3-6 6-4 7-5 in a repeat of last year’s final when the season-ending climax was staged in Shanghai.

Djokovic, the form player arriving at London’s spectacular O2 Arena after three titles in his last four tournaments, finally subdued the jet-heeled Russian after nearly three hours of high-quality action before swapping shirts, soccer style, at the net.

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Safin also suggested Agassi might also want to consider forfeiting all the titles he won during his long and celebrated career if he was serious about coming clean.

“He feels guilty? So let him just give back his titles, money, his grand slams!” Safin told the French sports daily L’Equipe.

“If he is so fair play, he should go all the way. You know, ATP have a bank account, he can refund if he wants to.”

Safin, currently playing his last tournament in Paris this week, also questioned Agassi’s motives for revealing his past drug use in his autobiography “Open.”

In his book, Agassi revealed he had used and tested positive for crystal meth in 1997 but escaped punishment by lying to the investigators.

The American has since spoken about his remorse over his actions but Safin said was concerned about the way in which he confessed.

“I won’t write my biography. I do not need any money. The question is: why did he do it?” Safin said.

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