The 2012 Miami Masters gets underway on March 20th, the second of back-to-back Masters 1000 events held on outdoor hard courts in the United States. It's the only event outside of the slams in which the winners have to come through a potential 6-7 matches.  

The self-styled 'Fifth Grand Slam' is one of the most important events of the year and all eyes will be one which players can achieve that vital psychological boost heading into the clay-court swing.

Novak Djokovic's triumph last year reinforced his belief that he's capable of beating Rafael Nadal in major finals and if he hadn't have won that match he may not have gone on to dominate Nadal throughout the clay-court swing as well as in the Wimbledon and US Open finals.

Victoria Azarenka won her second Miami title in three years last year and the Belarus star will be favourite to make it a hat-trick after her maiden Grand Slam final triumph at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal has won six of the nine Masters 1000 events but he's missing the Miami, Cincinnati and Paris Indoors title in his collection. Winning the complete set of Masters 1000 events is one of the toughest feats in world tennis. Even Roger Federer has not managed it, being denied by Nadal in both Monte Carlo and Rome.

Nadal's had his chances in Miami over the years. His golden opportunity actually came when he was just 18. Back then the left-hander was known only to the most dedicated of tennis fans but he announced himself as a future champion by reaching the final where he led Federer by two sets to love before falling in five. 

Since then the final has been reduced to best of three sets but it hasn't helped Nadal's cause. He was outplayed by an inspired Nikolay Davydenko in 2008 and although last year he battled his way past Tomas Berdych and Federer, he lost to the man who's rapidly becoming his nemesis. Novak Djokovic won a brutal contest 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

Djokovic is likely to be the main man standing in his way once again in 2012. Nadal has a strong psychological edge over Federer on outdoor hard courts and Andy Murray has not performed in Miami for the past few years. 

Spain have dominated the Davis Cup over the past decade and Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer inspired them to another memorable triumph in 2011. However with both Nadal and Ferrer giving the competition a miss this season to focus on the Olympic Games, the door is wide open for other nations.

It's yet to be seen if the fiercely patriotic Novak Djokovic is taking a similar stance. Djokovic burnt himself out during his incredible 2011 season and with an Olympic gold at stake, he might just come to a similar decision to his rivals. Djokovic has already opted to miss Serbia's first round tie with Sweden to rest after the Australian Open.

Instead Switzerland could have their best chance to win the competition. With the years running out for him, Roger Federer appears to be finally giving Davis Cup his full attention and with Stanislas Wawrinka in tandem, they will be a threat against any nation on any surface.

Argentina, France and the Czech Republic have been the Davis Cup bridesmaids over the past twelve years and these nations will be sensing an opportunity too. France have incredible strength in depth while Argentina have the inspirational Juan Martin Del Potro combined with the experience of David Nalbandian.

It should be a year to savour.    

This tournament is being streamed live from Saturday's semi-finals but the bad news for Kirilenko fans (and we know there are many) is that the fourth seed is going to have to step up a gear to reach that stage. 

The courts in Pattaya are lightning fast and not really suited to the game of a counter-puncher like Kirilenko. She was fortunate to reach the second round, saving match points to scrape past Aussie Casey Dellacqua 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3.

The Russian now faces the powerful naturalised Aussie Rodionova who thrashed France's Iryna Bremond 6-4, 6-0 in the first round.

Kirilenko has won both their past matches but those were back in 2003 and 2004. Look for the Russian to prevail again but in another very tight three setter. 

At the age of 35 Tanasugarn is still slugging out on the WTA Tour and the wily Thai remains a redoubtable competitor against anyone. She achieved her career best ranking of 19 a decade ago and most players in her position would have been thinking about calling it quits eight years back but Tanasugarn still loves the game as much as ever.  

She won through to the second round here, ousting sixth seed (and world number 46) Galina Voskoboeva when the Kazakh retired at 6-3, 4-2 down.

21 year old Chang came through the qualifying rounds before surprising Greece's Eleni Danilidou 7-5, 6-1 and she will feel she has an excellent chance of taking out the veteran here.

Chang leads 2-1 on the head-to-head and most crucially, she defeated Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-4 in the Fed Cup just last week.

Prediction: Chang in two.

Zvonareva has won the Pattaya Open twice in the past and while she was not at her best in her first round clash with lowly ranked Thai qualifier Varatchaya Wongteanchai, she did enough to progress 6-2, 7-5.

The Russian suffered a bit of a scare at the end of the second set, fending off three break points at 5-5. "The first match is always tough," she said afterwards. "I didn't play my game but I always came up with better shots when I needed them."

Amanmuradova will present a stiffer challenge as she often enjoys her best results in the Far East. The Uzbek is currently ranked 107 although she hit a career best of 50 four years ago.

Last year she reached the Pattaya quarters before getting thumped 6-2, 6-0 by Daniela Hantuchova. It seems unlikely that she'll progress that far this time round going by her results to date in 2012. She lost in the first round of Australian Open qualifying as well as in Brisbane qualifying.

Prediction: Zvonareva in two.

1. Chang Kai-Chen vs. Tamarine Tanasugarn

2. Vera Zvonareva vs. Akgul Amanmuradova

3. Doi/Zhou vs. Daniilidou/Tanasugarn

4. Amanmuradova/Date-Krumm vs. Klepac/Pivovarova

1. Misaki Doi vs. Sorana Cirstea

2. Maria Kirilenko vs. Anastasia Rodionova (NB 17.00hrs)

3. Chang/King vs. Cirstea/Keothavong

4. Mirza/Rodionova vs. Brémond/Garcia

1. Lertcheewakarn/Sema vs. Abduraimova/Buyukakcay

2. Chan/Jeflea vs. Chan/Chan

Court TBA

1. Cibulkova/Husarova vs. Wongteanchai/Wongteanchai