BNP Paribas Open

There are only two tournaments scheduled for March, but don't worry there are plenty for April!

The first of these tournaments is the BNP Paribas Open , more commonly know as Indian Wells!

While one finalist from the Dubai duty free tennis championship crashed out in the first round the other added to his trophy haul, Roger Federer won his fourth BNP Paribas Open title!

In the semi-finals Federer overcame possibly his greatest rival, Rafa Nadal, however it wasn't all bad news for Nadal as he won the doubles for the second time in Indian Wells, along with his partner Marc Lopez.

In the final Roger Federer overcame John Isner (who reached a career high of No.10 this week) 6-7(7) 6-3.

In doing this Roger Federer equalled Rafael Nadal's record of 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, is this the second-coming of the Swiss Maestro?!

Qatar ExxonMobil Open

This year the Doha will be celebrating it's 20th anniversary and is Roger Federer and Rafael Nadals choice of tournament to kick off their 2012 season, Roger Federer is after a fourth title there and Nadal is after a win for the first time in the singles after winning the doubles a number of times!

Here is a list of the top seeded players this year:

For those Brits out there, like me, It's good to see Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins are number one seed and it is good for British tennis to have such a strong doubles team!

Nadal and Federer are now gearing up for the warm up tournament:

                                        Nadal and Federer practising

Nadal Vs Federer Mubadala - Battle for 3rd Place (6-1, 7-5)

Going into the match it had to be said that Federer was favourite to win it, Nadal was looking tiered and a shoulder injury was said to be causeing problems. Federer on the other hand may have lost to Djokovic but he appeared fresher and more prepared than Nadal did.

So it was a surprise when Nadal took the first set with relative ease, 6-1

The second set was closer, Nadal broke early but Federer broke back straight away after a double fault from Nadal (Perhaps due to his shoulder injury). A close battle followed, some great tennis was played and we got a few smiles from Nadal, even getting a point after hitting the ball between his legs - usually a Federer move!

     The 11th game was a thriller, Nadal was after a win so he could serve for the match but Federer stood in his way and stopped him time and time again, but after 6 attempts Nadal eventually broke!

      Nadal prevailed in the end, taking 3rd place, a good win for Nadal and both players must now be feeling confident about the up-coming season after a decent performance at an exhibition match. 

Afterwards Federer seemed calm and appeared to be looking forward to the coming season, he also spoke about the development of sport in Abu Dhabi and the surrounding region, he is truly a great ambassoder for the sport.

Nadal said the tournament was great preperation for the Australian Open, and spoke of his shoulder problem but mentioned he was playing his best in practise.

I feel Nadal is playing down his chances for the Australian Open, planning a suprise attack on his opponent.

We can all look forward to the final this afternoon!