Rafael Nadal will be attempting to defend his title when the first Masters Series event of the year kicks off later this week for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

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Much will depend on how Nadal’s knees are holding up. The Spaniard has not competed since the Australian Open but reports suggest that he has been feeling good in practise and is back playing at full intensity. Nadal is quite a risky bet to defend his title against such a strong field as over the past twelve months, whenever he has faced someone in the top ten, he has invariably been defeated.

Roger Federer is a three-time Indian Wells champion but he has not lifted the trophy since 2006. Last year the Swiss was sent packing by Andy Murray in the semi-finals but this time round Federer comes into the tournament having won his last three matches convincingly against Murray and having won the Australian Open in imperious style.

Murray came runner-up to Nadal last year and he is always at his best on the American hard courts. Indian Wells is the only one of the North American Masters Series crowns he has yet to win and having reached his second grand slam final down under in January, Murray is in the form of his life.  

However the odds on Federer and Murray will be quite short so for those looking for value bets, it may be worth going for Novak Djokovic or Nikolay Davydenko.

Djokovic has not really set the world alight this year but some consistent performances have seen him rise to world number two. He won the prestigious Dubai title a few weeks ago and is a past champion in Indian Wells, having won back in 2008.

Davydenko won the Miami Masters a few years back and the US hard courts suit his aggressive baseline hitting the best. He has given Federer and Murray serious problems recently and will fancy his chances if he comes up against those two.

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