TENNIS in DEPTH.

In doubles matches, second-seeded Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were thwarted in their attempt to claim their first BNP Paribas Open title, stunned by the Czech-German pairing of Tomas Berdych and Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(4), 7-5 in their opening match. Third seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes were also upset, falling to Spaniards Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.

Top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic made their way safely into the second round as they defeated Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4. Nestor and Zimonjic were finalists in 2008.

Here’s a question for all the tennis experts. When was the last time a male player won both singles and doubles titles at an ATP event?

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Defending champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Germany’s Rainer Schuettler.

The third-seeded Spaniard will now meet Mario Ancic in the next round, with the unseeded Croatian having struggled past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic survived a disastrous second set to defeat Mardy Fish 6-1 0-6 6-2.

The World number two had five double faults before triumphing over the American – who is ranked 104 places below him – just as he did in the final two years ago.

Also going through was fifth seed Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-4.

Fernando Verdasco, seeded 10th, cruised past Ramon Delgado 6-4 6-1, and will now face Tomas Berdych, who beat Florent Serra.

There were also victories for John Isner, Sam Querrey, Juan Monaco, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Brian Dabul, Ivan Ljubicic and Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Viktor Troicki advanced when Pablo Cuevas retired after just one game.

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Rafael Nadal plans to dethrone Andy Murray as Queen’s Club champion after confirming he will play in the pre-Wimbledon tournament in London in June.

The world number three from Spain has not played on grass since beating Roger Federer in the 2008 final at the All England Club due to a knee injury.

“Queen’s is a big, important tournament,” said Nadal.

“This year there is even more motivation because I could not defend my titles last year.”

In the Spaniard’s absence last year Murray defeated James Blake to clinch his first grass-court title at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s while Federer beat Andy Roddick to collect his sixth Wimbledon crown.

Nadal added: “No-one was more disappointed than me that I couldn’t play because I love those tournaments.

“It was an amazing feeling to win Queen’s in 2008 and then to fulfil my dream by winning Wimbledon.

“To not defend my Wimbledon title last year was one of the toughest decisions in my career, but this is a new year and now I have the chance to go back to England and to compete on the grass again.”

The Aegon Championships run between 7-13 June.

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“Back on the court in Indian Wells today,” Federer wrote on his Facebook page. “Felt great to hit as it was the first hit I had in two-and-a-half weeks.”

And defending champ Nadal is also in positive mood ahead of the year’s first Masters 1000 event, saying his knee will not be a handicap in California.

“I have been training hard for three weeks,” he said. “We have worked during the pre-season to recover the form which I had when I arrived in Australia. I feel strong and my knees do not hurt me – now I just want to compete.

“My main objective, the most immediate goal, is to play well during the American hard court season. I have 1000 points to defend at Indian Wells as the defending champion. But the main idea is to play well.”

The Spaniard is also keen to put himself in contention for the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup after missing the opening round victory over Switzerland, which Federer also skipped.

“The next elimination stage in France will be very hard and to get through it we need to all be at 100%. I would like to be there,” said Nadal.

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Rafael Nadal is concerned about his constant injury problems according to Spanish Davis Cup Captain Albert Costa.

“He is worried about his physical state, but he’s working every day to get better.” – Costa.

Shakira has opened up about her decision to cast Rafa in a new music video, insisting she picked the tennis ace to be her leading man because she “identifies” with him.

The Colombian singer sparked reports of a new romance with Nadal when they were photographed meeting together, shortly before filming a steamy promo for Shakira’s new single Gypsy.

She explains, “I thought that maybe I needed someone (in the video) I could in some way identify with. And Rafael Nadal is a person who has been totally committed to his career since he was very young, since he was 17, I believe.

Nadal suffered a small knee tear while two sets and 3-0 down against Britain’s Andy Murray in the quarter-final of the Australian Open, ruling him out of action until the first Masters 1000 event of the season in Indian Wells.

As well as missing the chance to defend the points he earned for making the Rotterdam final last year, the new world No.3 has also been forced to skip Spain’s Davis Cup tie with Switzerland next week.

Plagued by injuries since November 2008 when tendinitis in his knees forced him out of Spain’s Davis Cup final win over Argentina, the 23-year-old suffered yet more trouble with his knees after failing to lift the French Open for the first time in five years last May.

“Until last year at Roland Garros and the problems, he had achieved everything,” Costa said. “It’s normal, after 22 years and winning everything, to have some down time.”

Nadal hopes to return fighting fit in order to defend the title he picked up in California last year, beating three top ten players – del Potro, Roddick and Murray – on the way to victory.

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Roger Federer’s impromptu ‘Hit for Haiti’ is to be replicated in Indian Wells by new tournament owner Larry Elisson in an event expected to raise at least $1million for relief efforts in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Due to take place on March 12 ahead of the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open, the latest Haiti fundraiser looks set to be less of a banter-filled knock around than the Melbourne event, more a doubles clash encompassing two of the sport’s greatest rivalries.

Federer will team up with 38-year-old Pete Sampras to take on Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi – a pair who would arguably have won far more than their 14 collective Grand Slam titles were it not for the long-standing dominance of the Swiss and the American.

Software billionaire Elisson coined the idea of a second ‘hit for Haiti’ after seeing the success of the Melbourne event, which raised over $600,000 from ticket sales and donations.

“When I saw the first Hit for Haiti event in Australia, I was very moved by the players coming together, on the eve of an important tournament, for such a worthy cause,” said Ellison.

A crowd of around 17,000 people gathered for the initial event at Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena, and Ellison hopes to create an equally well-received event at what has become the most attended tennis tournament in the world outside of the four Grand Slams.

But unlike the jovial atmosphere in Melbourne, the return of the Agassi-Sampras rivalry looks set to be especially spicy, particularly after Agassi’s ill-received comments about the 14-time Grand Slam champ in his candid autobiography ‘Open’.

“I envy Pete’s dullness,” Agassi wrote. “I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration, and his peculiar lack of need for inspiration.”

Sampras responded by saying he would like a ‘sit-down’ with his long-term rival.

“I got wind of a few things that he said about me, and I was a little surprised and a little disappointed,” Sampras said in January.

But the pair will once again let their tennis do the talking in Indian Wells – a tournament Agassi won once and Sampras won twice during their careers – and Elisson is particularly excited about their participation in the fundraiser.

“I wanted to bring together an exceptional group of players, with an unprecedented amount of Grand Slam titles, at the BNP Paribas Open,” he said.

“Our goal is to leave a memorable impression on fans, while raising a substantial amount of money that will directly impact the needs of people in Haiti.”

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Andy Murray’s impressive run to the final of the Australian Open has been rewarded with a rise up the ATP world rankings.

The 22-year-old has climbed to number three in the world in the latest list published on Monday despite his straight-sets defeat to Roger Federer in Melbourne.

Federer leads the way for the 268th week in his career.

Murray returns to the top three for the first time since October at the expense of Rafael Nadal, who retired hurt while trailing in the quarter-finals against the Scot and has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a knee injury.

The Spaniard’s slide down the order to fourth place marks the first time he has been ranked outside the top three since before claiming his maiden French Open title in 2005.

Novak Djokovic, who crashed out against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight at Melbourne Park, is up to number two in the world, although Murray, on 7,800 points, is just 510 points adrift of the Serbian.

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