Fun in the sun or squeaky shoes on a hard-court. The tour moves to Miami this week where fans and players can either relax and enjoy the sun or get ready for some serious tennis. Conditions will be different this week in Miami compared with last week in California as the heat and humidity that south Florida provides can make life more challenging for players. Racquet grips become harder to hold and the hot conditions make the court even fast during night play.There are many distractions when the players come to Miami and that is perhaps why Marat Safin, Feliciano Lopez and Mark Philippoussis have never done well in Miami, as they are usually partying at the infinite amount of night clubs that South Florida has to offer.

On to the the draw and the ailing Roger Federer. R-Fed is coming off of a semi-final effort in Indian Wells where the negatives unfortunately did out way the positives. Roger did make the semi-finals and pick up 220 ranking points, however he suffered his worse loss in terms of score line in over 5 years and he went down to a player ranked 98th in the world. Granted, Mardy Fish had an excellent week in the desert, but a player of this callibour really has no business beating Roger Federer. This is also the 1st time since 2003 that Fed comes into Miami with zero titles to his name. Federer has not even made a tour final so far in 2008! To make matters worse, his draw at this years Sony Ericsson Open is not that forgiving. Roger will play either talented Gael Monfils or big serving John Isner in his 1st match. Both players are hungry and will be looking to knock R-Fed out if possible.

Provided that Federer gets through his 1st match, he has the potential of meeting up with Lleyton Hewitt in the 4th round and Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals. I sense that both these players are licking their chops at the moment because they finally have Federer in a vulnerable position, considering that both Hewitt and Roddick have faired so poorly against Roger. As well I think the mono that he had earlier this year is still lingering because he looked very flat against Fish in the semi-final. If R-Fed is still up and down in terms of his fitness, there is no way he can win this tournament. To wrap up the Federer story, he does have a chance to gain much needed ranking points as he only made it to the 4th year last year in Miami.

On to Rafa Nadal and his current struggles. The second seed is in the similar slump that his Swiss colleague is enduring. Three months into the season and zero titles. My concerns for Nadal are starting to increase as each tournament progresses. One wonders if his game can hold up considering how hard he has to work to win matches? Rafa, clearly had nothing left in the semi-finals against Djokovic and was brushed aside by the easy score line of 6-2, 6-3. As well his knees are still tender and the hard-court surface is not helping out at all. Finally he has the misfortune of playing Novak again in the semi-finals, where he will lose again if they meet. Rafas draw looks decent, with a potential clash with his mentor Carlos Moya in the 4th round and either David Nalbandian, or James Blake in the quarter-finals. Nadals fitness has never been an issue in his career, however it is imperative that he moves through the early rounds more comfortably if he has any chance of improving on his quarter-final appearance of last year.

On to the man of the hour and Novak Djokovic. Unlike Federer and Nadal, Novak is enjoying his best start to a season. He already has the 2 biggest titles of the year and looks focused to continue. If Djokovic ends up winning the Miami crown, he will clearly be the best player in the world going into the clay-court season. His draw is the most forgiving of the top 3 seeds with his toughest opponents being Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals and Rafa Nadal in the semis. A finals appearance is very achievable for Novak and much like Nadal his results depend on how efficiently he moves through the draw.

David Ferrer and Andy Roddick the 5th and 6th seeds respectively will be looking to bounce back after poor results last week in Palm Springs. David Ferrer has a pretty good looking draw and should be good for at least a quarter-final showing. Roddick will be looking to dazzle the crowd in what is basically his home town tournament considering he spent so much time training in Florida as a junior. If Roddick can get passed Federer in the quarter-finals, look for a finals run by the American.

Other notables and dark horses for the tournament are the talented Argentine Juan Monaco and the reemerging Croatian Mario Ancic. Both these players embody what I like to see in pro athletes, they both have heart! If they can link their passion to their mental focus, then both can go deep in Miami.

Please check back daily as we will have constant updates on the Miami Masters. Please feel free to leave comments and check out the link below to the official tournament site. Enjoy!

Sony Ericsson Open: http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/

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