Previews the Dubai Tennis Championships, a tournament that starts after the weekend.
Novak Djokovic is the defending champion at the ATP Dubai Tennis Championships, a tournament that gets underway on Monday February 21st. Andy Murray is not in the draw as he had to pull out because of a wrist injury however the field is deep and it includes Roger Federer.
Federer is contesting his first tournament since losing at the 2011 Australian Open in January and he and Djokovic are certainly prospective finalists.
Federer has an opportunity to distance himself from Djokovic in terms of ATP ranking points and the pressure is definitely on the Serbian heading into the event. He won the title outright last year while Federer was idle and as the tournament is part of the 500 series, there is potential for a large shift in net gains/net losses for the two players.
If Federer wins the title not only will he earn the 500 ranking points at stake but Djokovic will fail to protect a chunk of his own points and that would give Federer some breathing room for second spot, with Rafael Nadal far ahead of both players.
Other key players in the field include Tomas Berdych and Ivan Ljubicic.
