Dubai: The men's tournament of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships will get under way on Monday, and the focus will be on the feature match between defending champion and world No 1 Roger Federer and British sensation Andy Murray.
Federer - who has won this event on four previous occasions in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 - was drawn to play Dubai debutant Murray in the first round at the official draw held on Saturday.
Federer's four titles is a record for this event and he will be more than eager to add a fifth crown, provided he can get past a quality field that also includes the likes of world No 2 Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, French youngster Richard Gasquet and another debutant, Andy Roddick of America.
Important
Federer may have the 'home advantage' of playing here as he uses Dubai as his base before going to many important tournaments.
But Murray has had a great start to the year, winning the season opening Doha Open and also adding the Marseille Open last month to take his career titles tally to five.
And then there is fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko as a potential quarterfinal opponent or either fourth seed David Ferrer or eighth seed Tomas Berdych standing in his way in the semifinal clash.
Nadal, who is holding up the lower end of the draw, is the only one who has tread upon Federer's toes in Dubai when he upstaged him in an epic final in 2006.
But the glitzy Spaniard will have to first take care of Roddick, Djokovic and Gasquet before possibly squaring off with Federer for the crown on Saturday.
Nadal, whose best showing this year has been the final of the Chennai Open in India, along with the semifinal of the Australian Open, will meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round.
Serbian star Djokovic will be one of the favourites for the title this year. The lanky 20-year-old is fresh from his exploits at the Australian Open and will be looking for his ninth singles career title as he faces Croatian Marin Cilic in the opening round.
Djokovic will be Nadal's likely semifinal opponent, provided the Spaniard can get past Roddick in the quarters.
Djokovic and Nadal have played each other eight times - of which seven were during the course of the 2007 season, with the scales tipping in favour of Nadal at 6-2.
In addition, not to be brushed aside will be Roddick - provided he can overcome jet lag first - and the likes of Gasquet and last year's losing finalist Mikhael Youzhny.
The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships is held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
