Word number one, Roger Federer, the man with all the Grand Slam records, including this year’s Australian Open has a first round bye, like all the top seeds. After that, things get interesting in a hurry.

Assuming form holds, the Swiss star will face resurgent Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, in the third round. Baghdatis is fresh from a three set final appearance against Novak Djokovic in Dubai, a match Marcos felt he should have won. If Federer is rusty, Baghdatis could throw a fly in the ointment.

17th ranked Czech star Radek Stepanek may be looming in the fourth round. Stepanek is 2-8 against Federer lifetime. The most likely quarter final opponent will be 7th seeded American Andy Roddick, who fought Roger Federer tooth and nail at Wimbledon last year in a memorable five set finals.

The most likely semifinal opponent will be this year’s Australian Open finalist, Britain’s Grand Slam wannabe Andy Murray, who showed plenty of rust in a lackluster Dubai performance. Murray should survive to the fourth round where hard serving Ivo Karlovic or ball-hawking David Ferrer will be lurking.

Murray will be more sternly tested against the winner of Jo Willfried Tsonga or 8th seed Robin Soderling, who is always dangerous and very much in form. Soderling will be a tough 5th round pairing for Murray.

The bottom half of the draw is loaded with talent and upset potential. 6th seed Nikolay Davydenko will be seeking to dismantle defending champ Rafa Nadal and then eventually through Federer in the finals for the third time in six months. The lofty goal may meet some resistance along the way. Davydenko will have to play through Viktor Troicki and Fernando Verdasco before he reached the winner of John Isner and 3rd seeded Nadal. Isner does not back off any match and appears a big star of the future.

2nd seed Novak Djokovic may have the easiest path to the quarters, where formidable foe Marin Cilic will undoubtedly be waiting. The Djokovic- Cilic winner will run head first into the Davydenko – Nadal victor.

Djokovic is fresh from the Dubai championship and a Davis Cup quarter final win with his pal Troicki. Of late, the Serb has made a habit of engaging in three set matches. He may be ripe for a Cilic upset.

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia

The 2010 Paribas Open in Indian Wells California is ready to go with many of the game’s top stars competing for more than $3.6 million in prize money. Women’s play begins today, March10th. Svetlana Kuznetsova is the top seed. Dane Caroline Wozniacki pulls seed number 2 followed by fast-rising Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva. The tournaments favorites are a pair of Belgians, Kim Clijsters, last year’s U.S. Open Champions and seven time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin.

The really good news is that while they are not among the top seeds, the top Belgians are in different halves of the draw. It seems likely that this year’s Indian Wells victor will have to play through one or both of these experienced competitors.

Despite the absence of heavyweights Serena and Venus Williams, Indian Wells shapes up to be the most balanced, most competitive tourney of the year. Henin, with two final appearances this year and Clijsters with one championship under her belt, add respectability to every draw.

In the top bracket, Kuznetsova will most likely have to play through Agnes Szavay in the third round before meeting the Kleybanova-Clijsters winner in the fourth round. That is no easy path to the quarters. Szavay has been on a roll of late almost upsetting Elena Dementieva in the finals at Rotterdam. Clijsters has a 7-1 career record against Svetlana and is the more successful hard court player.

The lower quarter of the upper bracket is fairly weak. Flavia Pennetta is favored to knock off sixth seeded Jalena Jankovic, if the struggling Serb arrives at the fourth round.

Victoria Azarenka should have little resistance moving to an intriguing fourth round pairing with another 20-year old hard hitter, Belgian slammer Yanina Wickmayer. Wickmayer may meet some resistance from either up and down performer Melanie Oudin or battling Daniela Hantuchova. A win over Hantuchova would be a feather in Oudin’s cap, helping her to climb up the ladder.

8th seeded Samantha Stosur highlights the bottom quarter of the upper bracket. Stosur will draw last year’s champion Vera Zvonareva, with the winner moving on to challenge the Azarenka-Wickmayer winner in the quarters. Zvonareva will have to play through Serb, Ana Ivanovic, if the pretty girl gets out of her bathing suit and back into tennis.

The two headliners in the upper bracket of the bottom draw are 6th seeded Agnes Radwanska and 4th seeded Elena Dementieva. Looming in the wings for Agnes is the formidable Henin, a probable third round match. The winner of that match will most likely draw Marion Bartoli in the fourth round. Dementieva appears to have the smoothest ride to the quarters, but her serving inconsistencies can create some disturbing losses.

Ion the bottom bracket of the lower draw, there are a bevy of tour glamour girls. 2nd seeded Wozniacki heads the crop with Maria Sharapova and Maria Kirilenko in the mix. Wozniacki has been unable to gain her 2009 form. The likely survivor will probably be either hard-charging Nadia Petrova or steady retriever Na Li, who is fast moving up the ranking’s ladder.

It is easy to build a case for both favorites. Nadal has played in five French Opens and won four of them. Henin has also won four tournaments at Roland Garros. She has entered the tournament eight times. Nadal boasts six Grand Slam titles, Henin seven.

Apparently, since returning to the tour, Henin has impressed everyone except the tour’s hierarchy. That’s the hierarchy that ranks Dinara Safina second, Caroline Wozniacki fourth and Kim Clijsters 17th. Help!

On the men’s side, the Great One, Roger Federer, winner of last year’s tournament, is listed at 9/4 with rising star Juan Martin Del Potro, at 4/1, just ahead of Novak Djokovic at 7/1 and Andy Murray at 8/1.

The ever dangerous Nikolay Davydenko, who has been in form and holds an impressive clay court record is at 10/1. Then, there is a serious drop-off.

Fernando Verdasco is 33/1. Cilic, Soderling and Frenchman Gael Monfils are at 50/1. That pretty much highlights the imbalance on the men’s tour. The best players win the big events. The top six players are all at 10/1 or less and then there is a big dip to the next tier. The slow clay favors those that can cover the court, stay on the court and deploy tactical strategy.

With the return of Clijsters and Henin, there is much more balance on the women’s side. While Henin is the prohibitive favorite at 5/4, Serena Williams and Clijsters are at 6/1. Last year’s upset winner, Svetlana Kuznetsova, is at 13/2 with hard-hitting Victoria Azarenka at 10/1. Wozniacki, the fourth ranked faltering Dane is at 13/1.

Somehow Dinara Safina is at 14/1 along with graceful Elena Dementieva. Venus Williams and the third Belgian star, Yanina Wickmayer, are at 20/1. Wickmayer just might be a good longshot play, but the champ looks to be coming from the elite list of favorites. Azarenka has had some success on clay but usually the slower surface hurts she and Wickmayer, but they are very young and in great form.

This year’s French Open boasts a much improved field this time around. The fleet afoot will prevail. If Nadal is healthy, there is not a better retriever and impossible shot-maker in the game. Bon chance!

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia

Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Murray share the distinction of being the two best players on the professional circuit without a Grand Slam Championship to their credit. That is no easy cross to bear.  While the flashy Murray gets loads of criticism, Davydenko’s resume shortcoming goes relatively unnoticed.  But, time is running out for the talented Russian.

His resume is impressive.  At age 29, the 5’10” strategist and all court player has little to prove, but that first major would make a good career into a great career.

This is a man who has won more than $16 million on tour since 1999, compiled 20 tour victories and won the last 6 ATP finals in which he has played.  He also has the impressive distinction of only being the second player to put away Roger Federer and Nadal in successive tournaments.  No easy task.

In winning in Doha to stat the 2010 season, Davydenko rallied from an 0-6 first set to overtake Nadal, an almost impossible task.  The win was the first time in 338 matches that he had come back from an 0-6 hole.  It was only the tenth time Davydenko had lost a love set since his professional debut.  Now, that’s consistency.

Nikolay’s career record stands at 388 – 233.  He has won 107 tiebreakers and lost 88.  His ATP finals record is an impressive 20 –5. Heading into Indian Wells, he stands at 13-3 in 2010.

It seemed Davydenko had eventual winner Roger Federer on the ropes again in Melbourne.  Up a set and with a break at 2-0, his remarkable run looked to be continuing.  But, just as quickly as he burst from the gate, Federer turned the tables.  Inexplicably, Davydenko began to spray shots and commit uncharacteristic errors in strategy and execution.

These periods of erratic play have blemished an otherwise stellar career.  Surprisingly, Davydenko is equally effective on clay as he is on the harder surfaces.  His clay record is 164 – 88.  On the hard courts, he stands at 184-112.

2006 was the Russian’s finest year.  He compiled 69 match triumphs and won 5 ATP titles.  He reached the quarterfinals or better in 15 of his 32 tournaments.

Perhaps his best win in 2009 was the Barclay’s ATP Tour Finals in a stirring match against Juan Martin del Potro.  He finished the year in the top 6 for the fifth consecutive year.

Davydenko is dangerous.  He has the experience to identify the opposition’s weaknesses and the skills to exploit those flaws.  His multi-dimensional strengths far outweigh his very few weaknesses.  He is serving as well as he ever has and could score at Indian Wells.  Never count this guy out!

Victoria Azarenka

There is no need to worry about 20-year old Victoria Azarenka, who grunts for release.  Do not bother that in her four years on the tour, she has not won a Grand Slam Event.  Not to fear.  The pretty, queen-to-be has succeeded at every level since joining the IT Tour in 2003.

Most would say, Victoria has it all.  Her many international fans are just waiting for that one big signature win in a major event.  She has come close on two occasions, the 2009 Runner-up finish at Paris and this year’s semifinal loss in Melbourne.  It seems Victoria has everything she needs on the court except that one necessary intangible, the ability to close clutch matches.

She has earned the reputation as the player that can beat anyone – before the final round.  But, then again, she is just 20 years old, in great shape and easing to the eyes as well.

Despite some high-profile losses, Victoria has earned five tour championships and has earned more money than her 19-year old Danish rival and world’s fourth ranked player Caroline Wozniacki.  Azarenka is certainly playing some of the best tennis on the tour this season and looms as a force to be reckoned with at Indian Wells later this month.

In her very first year on the tour, the blonde bomber played in all four majors, gaining the 3rd round at the U.S. Open.  Entering 2007, tour players were not sure what to make of the loudest competitor.  Victoria’s characteristic “grunt” as she struck the ball gained media, fan and player attention.  At 17 years old the 5’9” beauty found herself squarely in the middle of a continuing tour controversy.

The controversy did not slow her down.  In fact, it just may have made the fierce competitor even more determined.  In just her second year, she claimed two tour titles, finished runner-up twice and was on her way to stardom.  She won the Mixed Doubles Championship at the U.S. Open and broke into the top fifty.  Victoria had arrived and people took notice.

2008 was a bit more difficult.  Victoria forged her way into the top twenty with no singles crowns but on the back of very consistent play.  She reached the fourth round at Roland Garros.  More importantly, she was losing to the right players and winning matches she was favored to win.

In 2009, her dazzling power seemed to intensify.  Having recovered nicely from knee surgery, Victoria seemed stronger than ever.  She took dead aim at some of the tour’s beauty queens and one-by-one moved up the ladder, reaching the top ten early in the year.  Azarenka rode a 24-2 start to climb to number 7.  Now everyone’s eyes were open.  She would no longer surprise opponents.   She was favored in most matches and competitive in all.

But, her runner-up finish in Paris, third round appearances at Melbourne and London were disappointments.  Along with success came expectations.  And the fans now mimicked her grunt.  Distractions began to mount.

Her fast start gained her the Brisbane title, the Memphis title and the prestigious Miami title before March had ended.  Toward the end of the year, she seemed fatigued and less consistent and, frankly, a littler annoyed.  She suffered some disappointing knockouts.

Coach Sam Sumyk certainly found the key in the off season.  Victoria stormed out of the gates at Melbourne and had eventual winner Serena Williams on the ropes in the semis.  Her runner-up position in Dubai was a solid performance, but she came up short against Venus Williams.  Her career won-lost record stands at an impressive 193-88.

One of these days, and probably sooner rather than later, Victoria is going to finish a match against one of the Williams girls.  Then, watch out.  This woman is moving north on the ladder and with the inconsistent play of Safina (2), Wozniacki (4) and even Kuznetsova (3) seems the more troublesome opponent.  We look for Victoria to reach the finals at Indian Wells.  This just may be her coming out party.

Kim Clijsters

Fellow tour players did not have enough time to see how Kim Clijsters would return to the tour late last season.  After three summer tune-ups, the 36 time tour winner and two-time Grand Slam Champion stole the show in New York at the U.S Open.  A sentimental favorite, Clijsters had taken more than two years off to be with her newborn child.  With her September victory, she became the first mother, since Yvonne Goolagang (1980) to win a major title.

Kim fashioned her comeback with the help of long-time coach Wim Fissette and trainer Sam Versiegers.  Her refreshing poise makes her a strong contender in every match.  As evidenced by her play against Serena Williams in the Open’s semifinal match, Clijsters is all the way back and on a mission.  Kim’s relentless ground strokes and unflappable serve seemed to unnerve Serena and led to the now famous outburst, disqualifying the top seed.  Clijsters eased past young, surprise finalist Caroline Wozniacki to capture her second U.S. Open.

Clijsters brought a new sense of order to the topsy-turvy world of women’s tennis.  Finally, there was another proven player to challenge Serena and the game’s elite.  With more than $16 million in career earnings and with more than $80,000 deposited this year, Clijsters is certainly the most dangerous player not in the top ten.  With country mate Justine Henin floating in the draw, no bracket is safe.  You can bet the seeds are looking for those two as they rate their brackets.

2007 started well for Clijsters.  She jumped out to a 14-2 record, winning at Sydney, reaching the semis in Melbourne and the finals at Antwerp as well as the 4th round in Miami.  On May 6th, as the 4th ranked player on the tour, she hit the brakes by announcing her retirement.

This year she championed in Brisbane before heading to Melbourne and a bracket filled with landmines, including Henin, Petrova, Dementieva, Kuznetsova and friend-foe Wickmayer.  6 of the world’s best and most powerful players were congregated in one overloaded bracket.  Clijsters appeared mystified by the play of Nadia Petrova and suffered the worst defeat of her career.

She seemed to take it well.  Petrova was definitely on her game.  Clijsters has not stepped onto a WTA court since, which leaves questions about her fitness for Indian Wells.  Clijsters is regarded as an all court player.  She reached the finals on the clay at Roland Garros and has won on the speed courts at the U.S. Open twice.  Kim is enjoying married and family life and is not allowing her career to upset her matronly responsibilities.  It will be interesting to see how the winner of 447 singles matches balances her act.

No matter what she does, she is way too dangerous to be seeded behind the likes of Safina or Wozniacki.  It’s time to change the ratings guys.  The Belgians are back on top of women’s tennis, right where they belong.

Justine Henin

In Melbourne, one of the most dominant signs read Just In Time, a tribute to Justine Henin’s return to the tour.  The popular 5’ 5 1/2” Belgian dynamo returned to the tour after a nearly an 18 month leave of absence and immediately stormed to the forefront. In her very first event, the unseeded Henin put away Nadia Petrova, the two seed, in the first round at Brisbane and then marched to the finals.  She succumbed to Kim Clijsters, another Belgian comeback player, in the finals but clearly staked her claim to the elite level of women’s tennis.

Henin is the only player to have retired at the very top of her game and at the top of the women’s tennis rankings.  Justine is a competitor extraordinaire.  She has to be.  Lacking the tall, muscular frame of many of the tour’s top players, Justine must rely on strategy, poise, stinging ground strokes and meticulous physical preparation to earn her victories. The formula has worked well for Henin.  With more than $20 million in career earnings, 41 career singles titles, and seven Grand Slam titles, she s the toughest unseeded player ever to hit the tour.  Despite her final appearance at Brisbane and her final appearance in Melbourne, she will remain unseeded for this week’s tough Indian Wells event.  Don’t count her out! With 503 career wins against just 109 losses, it takes nerve to bet against the fleet, determined Belgian.  She has the endurance to wear harder hitters down and has had great success in three set matches.  It’s just what she does.  She does not have the emotional outbursts or grunting annoyances that typify other prima donnas on the tour.  Instead, Justine Henin plays to the last point of every match.

Henin turned pro in 1999.  She won her first tournament at Antwerp at 17 years old.  At 18, in 2000, she broke into the top 50 but captured no titles.  In 2001, Justine raised the bar and the future looked very good indeed.  The Belgian jumped into the top ten, won three tour titles, reached the semis at Roland Garros and the finals at Wimbledon.  Justine was now a player to be reckoned with. She reached number 1 in 2003, winning a remarkable 75 matches and reaching the semifinals or better in 18 of the 19 events in which she played.  She claimed both the French Open and the U.S. Open to nail down her first two Grand Slam events. Justine is a streaky player.  Much of her success relies upon holding her less than intimidating service.  In 2004, Henin started the year aggressively, winning the Australian Open and winning her fist 16 matches.  However, a respiratory disease began to take its toll.  She was able to rally to claim the gold medal at the Olympics but finished the year at number four.  She withdrew from several tournaments at the end of the season.

After finishing a number 6 in 2005, Henin rebounded to claim the top ranking in both 2006 and 2007.  How can it be, that the player nobody wants to play is unseeded again this week at Indian Wells?  It may bother her fans, but Justine seems to relish the underdog role.  Watch out for this fireball again this week.

Maria Sharapova

They may call it the tennis tournament in the desert, but Indian Wells is a special event featuring the biggest galleries outside of the four major tournaments. With $4.5 million in prize money and loads of live television coverage, players can gain prestige, riches and exposure at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open from March 10th – 21st. What more could an aspiring tour player want?

The outdoor hard courts provide plenty of fast-paced action. More than 330,000 fans are expected to turn out to watch many of the tour’s biggest names and hottest players.

Justine Henin was granted a wild card berth this time around. Since returning to the tour earlier this season, the 27-year old Belgian reached the finals in Brisbane and the finals at Melbourne. Along the way, she knocked off much higher seeds and younger players, including Elena Dementieva and hard-hitting 20-year old country-mate Yanina Wickmayer.

The seven-time Grand Slam Champion gets little respect. It’s mystifying really. Henin won the Indian Wells event in 2004 and holds 41 WTA singles titles. Unseeded? Not again. Justine’s placement in the Australian Open in a quarterfinal bracket with Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kim Clijsters, Wickmayer and Ana Petrova unbalanced the entire draw.

Other wild card passes were issued to American youngsters Christina McHale, Alexa Glatch and popular Bethanie Mattek-Sands. As a 17-year old, McHale gained the second round of the US. Open last year. Glatch has five ITF titles and Mattek-Sands holds seven tour doubles titles.

The tournament’s betting favorite will be another Belgian and 2009 U.S Open Champion, Kim Clijsters. Clijsters holds 36 tour titles and has won in the desert in 2003 and 2005. Kim has something to prove after her collapse against Petrova in Melbourne. She won at Brisbane, defeating unseeded Henin in the finals.

Last year’s champion, Vera Zvonareva will be defending both her 2009 singles and doubles championships. She will be joined by other former winners Serb Ana Ivanovic (2008), Russian Maria Sharapova (2006) and Daniela Hantuchova (2002 and 2007). Former World Number 1’s, Ivanovic and Sharapova, have fallen upon hard times of late and suffered surprising losses in early 2010. Ivanovic is unable to improve a weak, inconsistent serve. Sharapova has not come back to form after shoulder injuries. The two tour poster girls need some wins.

Last year’s Champion Vera Zvonareva will be back to defend both her singles and doubles titles, where she combined with powerful Victoria Azarenka. After reaching eight finals in 2008, Vera had a relatively quiet 2009 and is waiting to emerge from the shadows in 2010.

The impressive Azarenka, just 20 years old, is on the cusp of a major breakthrough. She battled eventual champion Serena to the end at Melbourne and may have let an upset slide away. Azarenka is one big win away from becoming a dominating tour player. Despite a few high profile losses, Victoria will not be deterred.

Dementieva possesses most of the tools needed to be a world-class performer within the realm of the white-lined rectangle. The 28-year-old owns rock solid groundstrokes from both wings, and she can flatten the ball in an attempt to hit through the court.

Dementieva’s court coverage and footwork are well above average in the women’s game, and the Russian is a proven defensive fortress who doesn’t make it easy for her opponents to find angles on the court.

There are only two chinks in Dementieva’s armor, but unfortunately, they’re large ones: the serve and the mind.

Dementieva has long struggled with her serve, a problem which was often the result of a bad ball toss and a lack of overall coordination in her larger service motion. The ball toss would drift sideways, away from her racquet. This hitch made it impossible for Dementieva to generate any appreciable degree of power on her serve; moreover, the flaw in her form forced the Russian to hit a curving serve to the wide part of the deuce court and, on the other hand, an ad-court serve to down the T.

In tennis, servers need a neutral ball toss so that their opponent can’t guess the location, but when the toss floats in one direction, the server loses the ability to disguise the location or trajectory on the serve. Because she couldn’t solve her toss for quite some time, a shaken and wobbly Dementieva remained extremely vulnerable on her serve, and this fact cost this top 10 mainstay a number of very meaningful matches at major tournaments. Just one example came in the 2008 U.S. Open semifinals, when Dementieva lost to Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 6-4.

Dementieva gained a break lead in each set, but could not parlay either advantage into the capture of a single set. Jankovic broke Dementieva in each of the Russian’s last five service games, a telling indication of just how weak her serve was.

With that having been said, the bigger reason for this elite player’s acute agony at the Majors has been the area between the ears. Just when Vera Dementieva’s daughter has been on the cusp of doing something special in reputation-making situations, this fragile flower has allowed the weight of the occasion to overwhelm her.

Dementieva’s body is strong and powerful, but her mental framework has all the resilience of a matchstick… at least when a Major championship is waiting to be won.

In each of Dementieva’s two Major finals – which were admittedly contested back in 2004 – a younger woman nevertheless displayed the stage fright that has continued to characterize her career.

“Demmy” crumbled in the 2004 French Open final, losing to Anastasia Myskina, 6-1, 6-2, in a painfully ugly (yet mercifully brief) match. In the 2004 U.S. Open final, Dementieva didn’t dissolve into a pool of ineptitude, but she lost as a favorite against Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 7-5. The awareness of those two stumbles has surely lingered in Dementieva’s mind through the years… perhaps on a subconscious level, but enough to plant seeds of doubt that have grown into nagging vines, vines which have strangled a gifted player’s sense of self confidence.

In the 2005 U.S. Open semifinals, Dementieva won the first set against Mary Pierce but then lost the final two sets, 2 and 2, after Pierce requested a medical timeout. In the 2008 French Open semis against Dinara Safina, Demmy won the first set and had match point at 5-2 in the second, but somehow failed to close down the match. One loss of a match point was understandable; it was the inability to hold onto a 5-2 lead that really exposed an upper-tier player’s runaway nerves.

But enough about the deficiencies in Dementieva’s game. You don’t win 545 singles matches and 152 doubles matches without doing a lot of things right. Yes, Dementieva has never won a Major in either discipline, but she did take part in one of the great women’s tennis matches of all time. Let’s take a trip into the wayback machine…

In the 2009 Wimbledon ladies’ singles semifinals, Dementieva engaged in a classic battle against the best player of the current era, Serena Williams. After having taken the first set in a tiebreak, Dementieva dropped the second set, 7–5. With Williams serving at 4–5 in the third, Dementieva even held a single match point and had a passing shot set up. Demmy went crosscourt, Serena guessed right to knock off the volley, and the match point went begging. Dementieva eventually lost the match 6–7(4), 7–5, 8–6, in 2 hours and 49 minutes. The epic encounter was the longest Wimbledon semifinal of the Open era.

Just how good was Dementieva, even in defeat? On that electrifying afternoon, the No. 4 seed at Wimbledon endured her share of hiccups, such as a botched backhand that allowed Serena to take the second set, and a nervous forehand that allowed the Serena to break back early in the third set after the Russian took a 3-1 lead. With that said, Dementieva didn’t descend into a pool of self-pity the way she normally has in other semifinal slam showdowns.

Whenever Dementieva dumped a ball into the canvas or lost a makeable shot by sending it into the doubles alley, she was able to play highlight-reel points immediately afterward. Forgetting her mistakes with uncommon poise, Dementieva exhibited the clearheaded crispness that elite athletes bring to the table in high-stakes situations. This WTA workhorse found the tunnel vision that had eluded her for so long. Several instances revealed this encouraging development:

* Despite having to serve just to stay in the first set – at 4-5 and 5-6 – Dementieva, long known as a shrinking violet at the service line, stood tall in the saddle. The Russian wore out the corners of each service box, placing her first serves near the lines with a considerable amount of pace. No longer hitting cream-puff second serves as well, Demmy was able to hold for 5-all and 6-all, steering the set into a tiebreak that the Russian won when a Serena forehand landed just wide.

* After she briefly flinched to hand back her break lead early in the third set, Dementieva then held convincingly in each of her next four service games. What was especially remarkable was that after Serena saved match point and held for 5-all in the deciding set, Dementieva shrugged off that disappointment to hold for 6-5.

* In a larger context, Dementieva – slugging superbly with Serena for nearly three full hours–inevitably encountered a tidal wave of frustrating moments when the prospect of victory faded as soon as it appeared. Yet, to the very end, the Russian was playing high-level tennis, giving as good as she got against the most accomplished player of the 21st century. This version of Demmy will win a Grand Slam; the key will be for the 28-year-old to maintain the mindset that served her so well at last year’s Wimbledon.

True tennis fans can only hope that will be the case. This is a player whose career needs to receive the affirmation and validation of a Major championship victory.

Country                                                    Russia

Birth Date                                                October 15, 1981 (1973-12-02)

Residence                                                Monte Carlo, Monaco (1980-09-30)

Height                                                        5 ft 11

Weight                                                       140 lbs.

Year Turned Pro                                  1998

Highest Rank – Singles                        No. 3 (April 6, 2009)

Highest Rank – Doubles                     No. 5 (April 14, 2003)

Career Prize Earnings                          US $13,212,689

Grand Slam (Singles)                            0 titles

Australian Open                                     Best showing – semifinalist (2009)

French Open                                            Best showing – finalist (2004)

Wimbledon                                               Best showing – semifinalist (2008, 2009)

U.S. Open                                                   Best showing – finalist (2004)

Grand Slam Women’s Doubles          0 titles

The tour’s biggest names will clash with players seeking to cash in on a piece of the $3,645,000 prize money. Last year’s attendance at the spectacular Indian Wells Tennis Garden marked the first time any event outside a Grand Slam has topped 300,000. The desert resort has a heightened sense of anticipation.

Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro are two of the top tour players who are nursing injuries. Both are expected to play. Del Potro has been treating an injured wrist while Federer was forced to withdraw from Dubai last week with a lung infection.

Many the top players have had success at Indian Wells. Rafa Nadal, last year’s winner, will join last year’s runner-up, Andy Murray as well as 2008 champion Novak Djokovic, last week’s winner at Dubai.

The tournament’s top seed in the 12-day event commencing March 11th will be the ageless Federer, king of the game. The Australian Open Champion has not played since his year-opening Grand Slam win. However, he is the only active player to have won at Indian Wells and also at the Sony Ericsson Miami extravaganza in the same year. He accomplished the feat in 2005 and 2006, the year of his last championship here.

Novak Djokovic is a two-time leader and will be seeded second. The Serb overcame difficulties last week at Dubai, but seems well grounded for this journey and may upset the apple cart. Djokovic beat Nadal for the 2007 title and American Mardy Fish for the 2008 crown.

Other top seeds will be Murray, an early round knockout in Dubai, Nadal, Del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, Robin Soderling, Mikhail Youzhny and Marin Cilic. The rankings have shifted in the last two weeks, with Fernando Verdasco tumbling out of the top ten. Cilic, Soderling and Youzhny have all been hot of late.

Cilic has built the most impressive won-lost record this season. His 17-2 mark heads a strong list of active players. Roddick is second with a 15-3 mark, followed by 10th ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero (14-3), Davydenko (13-3) and Davis Ferrer (13-4).

Impressive Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis is very much on his game. The upset king let one slip away against Djokovic but still stands at 13-5 for the year. In the desert and with big purses on the line, anything goes. We expect the cream to be at the top when the sand settles.