Upcoming Tournaments Hoping For Federer-Nadal Final

The Australian Open could not have hoped for a better men's final.  The two players that have gripped the tennis world in the last few years came face to face in the first Grand Slam final of 2009.  Roger Federer faced Rafael Nadal which saw a five set match bringing tennis to a new level.   The rallies left all those present and in TV land bewildered by offense-defense shifting as well as amazing angles and speed that a tennis ball can actually travel. 

As in Wimbledon 2008, both Nadal and Federer have demonstrated that they are both above the rest of the pack when it comes to Grand Slam events. 

Both the upcoming Indian Wells and Miami tournaments are also hoping to cash in on the Federer-Nadal rivalry. On the Indian Wells website, a summary can be found of the Australian Open with even an open suggestion that rivalry could be renewed again at this tournament. 

Even the draws have been analyzed upon release to probe the possibility for a future meeting between the two.  There are key players to watch out that can affect the dynamics of both Federer's and Nadal's ability to pass through to the finals. 

Two key players would be Fernando Verdasco and Andy Murray.   Verdasco came close to beating Federer in the Kooyang Classic.  He was within a hair of defeating Nadal at the Australian Open and should be considered a dark horse on both hard courts as well as the upcoming clay season. 

Andy Murray has defeated both Federer and Nadal in the most recent past.  If he can recover from his illness and regain his shape, there is no telling what he can do on hard-courts. Clay, however is not one of Murray's strong suits and since that season is short, there is not a lot of time to improve before the impending French Open.  

Novak Djokovic would be another key player but despite winning the Dubai Open, his overall quality of play and endurance have fallen short of the top three quality.  His recent loss to Nadal over the weekend during the Davis Cup Tie between Spain and Serbia means that he has not rebounded yet. 

In terms of the top four, the pre-French Open tournaments will settle questions of how serious are Federer's back injury, Nadal's knees, Murray's illness (maybe mono?) and Djokovic's confidence will be.   The Indian Wells and Miami tournaments are hoping that the first two are the least serious which will maximize their respective attendances and ongoing general interest in today's tennis.