The seedings for the 2013 Australian Open, scheduled to begin on the 14th of January have been announced. There were no surprises in both the men’s and women’s seeds as the organisers stuck closely to the current world rankings. Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka have been announced as the top seeds in the men’s and women’s draws respectively. There have been no withdrawals on the women’s side but the men’s side witnessed the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal who would have otherwise been seeded 4th.

With two consecutive wins in 2011 and 2012 and a good run at the Hopman Cup, Djokovic clearly holds the edge over his opponents. The second seed is the men's draw is Swiss Maestro Roger Federer who proved that he still has a couple of slams left in him by winning Wimbledon last year and with Nadal’s withdrawal he will have an easier route to the final.  Third seed Andy Murray will look to carry forward the confidence from his win at Brisbane on Sunday and should he not be in a honeymoon period following his maiden slam win in New York, will be a threat to the big 2.

Top seed and world No.3 Andy Murray successfully defended his Brisbane International title after a testing 7-6(0), 6-4 victory over 21-year old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday afternoon.

Dimitrov charged out of the blocks, winning 11 of the first 12 points and racing away to a 3-0 lead before Murray got awoke from his slumber and showed just why he is one of the top stars in the men's game.

The Olympic champion needed to save a set point en route to taking the opening set into a tiebreak, but he romped home in the breaker without dropping a single point.

World No.3 Serena Williams claimed her first-ever Brisbane International title with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia on Saturday night.

India’s Sania Mirza and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands have taken out the Brisbane women’s doubles final, upsetting fourth seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Czech Kveta Peschke. 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.

At long last the caravan that rolls around through the year beginning Down Under, traversing the entire the entire world before pitching tent in London signaled a temporary halting of proceedings for 2012. This tennis year was one that could be described in many ways notably historic, phenomenal and perhaps more than any other 'a season of parity'. In a season of split successes amongst the 'Big Four' Novak Djokovic emerged as the first among equals on the ATP Tour while Victoria Azarenka took her place on top of the WTA rankings holding off Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

It was a rare year that included the Olympics, held at London on this occasion and on the hallowed Wimbledon turf to boot, and the tournament was a wonderful addition to the calendar bringing forth a level of emotion dissimilar from those seen at the annual tournaments storied though they may be. Like any year, it had its moments of bitterness and controversy to balance the wonderful storylines and the remarkable achievements over the year. All in all this year was memorable and on that note let's take a dive down memory lane to review the professional tennis year of 2012.

Novak Djokovic pulled off yet another stirring comeback to stave off the considerable challenge of Juan Martin Del Potro to progress to the final of the ATP World Tour Finals. The World No.1 was up against it a set and a break down but managed to recover to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph. This is the second time that the Serb has made it to the final of the final showdown and will play Roger Federer who advanced to his 8^th final at the expense of Andy Murray in the evening match. The 2^nd seed overcame a rampant Murray and a slow start to eventually cruise down the home straight with a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory. This is the third year in succession that Federer has made the final at London and the defending champion has won 13 of 14 matches in this period. 

Earlier the no.3 seeded duo of Leander Paes & Radek Stepanek were upset by Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 in the first doubles semifinal. The Indian duo mounted a superb response to going down a set and saved a match point in the champions tie-break enroute to their first final here as a team where they will face Marc Lopez & Marcel Granollers. The Spanish duo defeated Wimbledon winners and fellow debutants Marray & Nielsen 6-4, 6-3 to become the first Spaniards to do so since Casal & Sanchez in 1990.

Andy Murray confirmed his qualification for the semi final of the World Tour Finals with a straight set victory over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. In a match that was a slow burner, Murray breezed through the early stages, before being forced to quell a late fightback from Tsonga to win 6-2, 7-6(3) in an hour and 35 minutes. The Scot looked imperious in the early stages but Tsonga awoke from his slumber to give Murray a real scare before finally succumbing to his third loss of the tourney. Murray joins Djokovic in the semifinal from Group A after the Serb confirmed top spot in Group A having beaten Berdych with an identical scoreline 6-2, 7-6(6). The win meant that Djokovic finished unbeaten in the group stages for the first time in his career. Also qualifying for the semifinal in the doubles were the Indian duo of Bhupathi & Bopanna. The duo progressed at the expense of defending champions Mirnyi & Nestor 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 10-5 to finish second behind Jonathan Marray and Fredrik Nielsen in Group B.

Tomas Berdych defeated Jo Wilfred Tsonga in a battle of the power to notch his third consecutive victory over the Frenchman in 2012. The Czech quelled a mid match comeback by Tsonga to win 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 in an hour and 52 minutes. For Tsonga this loss continued his disappointing year against top 10 opponents losing his 14^th match out of 15 against his closest rivals. Earlier, Novak Djokovic came from behind to post a facile victory over home favourite Andy Murray 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Murray now faces Tsonga while Djokovic plays Berdych in the final round of matches in Group A. In the evening's first match, debutants Marray & Nielsen once again upset their more fancied foes in a champions tie-break 7-6(3), 4-6, 12-10 to become the first to book their place in the semifinal.