World No.1 Novak Djokovic looked a bit suspect in the opening rounds and with 8th see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga playing some exceptional tennis this week, their quarter-final match at the BNP Paribas Maters looked set to go either way. It was not to be though as Djokovic put paid to his critics and proved why he is the best player in the world with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-1 thrashing of the Frenchman in just 54 minutes. Djokovic will face 7th seed Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of Indian Wells on Saturday. Del Potro fought back from a set down in the last of the men’s quarterfinals to pull off an upset against 3rd seed Andy Murray 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 in just over 2½ hours.

The Djokovic-Tsonga match got off to a good start with the Serb finding his mojo almost immediately. Tsonga, too was striking the ball well in the early exchanges. However, in a bid to outdo the champion and hit winners, the Frenchman committed a flurry of unforced errors to gift a break to the top seed for a 4-2 lead. The world no.8’s game continued to unravel as two games later the 6 time Grand Slam champion broke once again to claim the first set 6-3.

The stakes at the BNP Paribas Masters just got higher as the quality of the tennis improved to another level with the big guns having to carve out their victories in long matches to move into the quarterfinals. World No.2 Roger Federer narrowly avoided defeat as he edged out compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5. Joining him in the last eight is 3rd seed Andy Murray who won against a feisty Carlos Berlocq in straight sets 7-6, 6-4. Eight seed Jo Wilfried Tsonga also came through in a similarly hard fought encounter and came back from a set down to see off Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Kevin Anderson and Tomas Berdych also won their respective fourth round encounters to set up a great quarterfinal match-up.

Roger Federer dominated his compatriot for the better part of the first two sets and was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-4 up but the 18th seed broke Federer’s serve to love and forced the match to a tiebreak which he won 7-4. The momentum swung Wawrinka’s way and he used it to go 3-1 up in the third set putting all the pressure on the 2nd seed. Federer though was up to the challenge and he broke back to level proceedings, eventually winning the last set 7-5.

The winners of the 2013 Laureus World Sports Awards have been unveiled at a globally televised Awards Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. Among the highlights were a third Laureus Award for Jamaican sprint giant Usain Bolt, a triple success for British sport with honours for Jessica Ennis, Andy Murray and Sebastian Coe, and a special new Award for Michael Phelps, the most successful Olympian of all time.

The Laureus World Sports Awards are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.   The winners are chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the ultimate sports jury, made up of 46 of the greatest living sportsmen and sportswomen. The majority of the winners came from the highly successful 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

Top seed Novak Djokovic and No.3 seed Andy Murray both had a difficult time in their 2nd round matches on Monday and had to play long three setters before finally progressing to the next round. While Djokovic had a lapse of concentration and conceded the second set, a rusty Murray lost the opening set and then found his game in the next two. Djokovic’s semi-final opponent in Dubai, Juan Martin Del Potro did not find things quite as difficult and sent former world no.3 Nikolay Davydenko packing in straight sets quite easily.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic was stretched to three sets in his opening match against Italy’s Fabio Fognini before finally pulling through 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. The top seed came to court on top form and won 10 of the first 11 games before the Italian launched a spirited fight back to take the second set and force the match into a decider. Djokovic though had recovered his poise and won the final set with ease 6-2.

In a match that has all the makings of a potential blockbuster, World No.2 Roger Federer could meet his long time nemesis Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Amazingly it has been exactly a year since the two great rivals faced each other with Federer getting the better of the Spaniard right here at Indian Wells, 6-3, 6-4 in their last meeting.

In what could be a tricky draw for the defending champion, World No.2 Federer would have to go past Julien Benneteau in the third round and then either countryman Stan Wawrinka or last year’s runner up John Isner in the fourth round before his potential match with Nadal. Nadal on the other hand, opens his campaign either against local boy Ryan Harrisson or Japanese Go Soeda and he should go unscathed till the fourth round where he’s drawn to play Serbian No.2 Janko Tipsarevic.

Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in four sets, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win the Australian Open title for a third straight year, a feat never accomplished before in tennis' Open Era. Neither player was at his peak in the match, with the opening couple of sets being littered with unforced errors. With their games quite similar, and both men in excellent physical condition, the match was expected to be a long drawn affair. The first two sets certainly were indicative of that as they both went beyond an hour, but when Djokovic got his nose in front late in the third, he found another gear. Murray, who appeared to be struggling with blisters and a bit of hamstring niggle, failed to lift his game when it mattered, and Djokovic played the tennis we all know him capable of to pull away comfortably in the end.

Both men had played some fantastic tennis over the last two weeks, especially in their respective semi-final encounters, but were uncharacteristically tentative on the big day. Djokovic was forced to rally with Murray from the back of the court, and nearly every attempt he made to force the play in the early exchanges resulted in an unforced error. Murray's mistakes meanwhile seemed to have no logic to them whatsoever, but fortunately for the Brit they came largely at inconsequential times in the first set.

For the best part of the past four years, the top four players of men’s tennis – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray have completed dominated the Grand Slams. Such has been their dominance that only one player apart from them in Juan Martin Del Potro at the 2009 U.S Open has been able to find success at the Slams. This has left a huge gap between the top 4 and the rest of the players and consequently the early rounds at the majors have been a mere formality – a way to find out which of the 4 is most likely to win.

With the 2009 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal withdrawing from the tournament the top seed Novak Djokovic had an easy semi final where he wiped the floor with his opponent David Ferrer. As a result, all eyes were on the second semi-final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. That match would have the responsibility of showing the world the best tennis it had ever seen and at the same time give them a clue as to who would walk away victorious from Melbourne.