Nadal closing in on Number 1

World Number 2 Rafael Nadal is closing on Roger Federer's 4 year reign as the undisputed world heavyweight champion. Federer has held the top spot for 215 consecutive weeks. Nadal has been the number 2 player for 138 straight weeks. Nadal is only 350 points behind, which he could make up in Miami at the end of the month.

The A-Rod is back

Andy Roddick has sent shockwaves through the tennis world with his successive defeat of world number 2 and world number 3. Roddick produced a confident and powerful performance against two of the highest ranked and in-form players. This was Roddick's first visit to the Arabain state of Dubai, and proved to be a bold and successful move. Many Americans chose to skip Dubai in favour of Las Vegas - no doubt fearing the Middle Eastern country.

Monte Carlo

Rafael Nadal's season of terror has begun in Monte Carlo where he crushed Roger Federer's attempt to dethrone the King of Clay in straight sets. Federer looked like he might finally get the better of the clay court champion on his home surface in the first set when Federer almost went a break up against the Spaniard, however Rafa fought hard and won the opening set. Federer never really posed much of a threat after that, and the seemingly effortless play which we have seen him win titles with was not visible today. Final score, 6-4 6-4.

“If you come to the court against the world No. 1 it's going to be tough. I was with confidence because I was playing my best tennis this week. The match was tough. I [thought at] the beginning he was playing better than me.”

Federer breaks Connors' record

Roger Federer has broken Jimmy Connors' record of 160 weeks at the top spot with his 161st week as the number one player in the World. "I’ve been looking forward to this day to come and I’m very excited. That is definitely one of the biggest records I’ve broken so far in my career", the 25-year-old Swiss star said to reporters in Dubai.

Federer won the tournament in Dubai on Saturday, defeating Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 6-3. He is set to break another record, as this was his seventh straight title victory.

Tennis in Vegas

Lleyton Hewitt defeated Marat Safin in the semis on Saturday night to face Melzer in the final of the tournament in Las Vegas. Hewitt looks to be improving in confidence, with only 13 unforced errors in the match. You can see the match Sunday night on British Eurosport.

ATP Memphis

The top four seeds in Memphis including 2002 winner Andy Roddick, defending champion Tommy Haas, Andy Murray and Mardy Fish are in second round action on Stadium court Thursday.

Other feature matches include Chela (ARG) vs Andreev (RUS) and Moya (ESP) vs Monaco (ARG).

Double Trouble

Andy has booked his place in the Memphis quarter finals with a comfortable straight sets win over Kristian Pless 6-3, 7-6(4). In the second set Andy had and lost several chances to break his opponent's serve, but managed to win in the breaker.

Andy's brother Jamie almost stole the limelight for once, defeating top doubles combo Erlich and Ram also in Memphis. After Jamie and Booty won the doubles in San Jose last week, it's looking good for a repeat performance.

Andy to face Andy

It's de-ja-vue as Andy Murray is set to face Andy Roddick in a repeat of last year's semi-final, in the semi-final again! Andy (Murray that is) won that match 7-5 7-5 and went on to win his first career title. This time the level should be even higher, with Murray at his highest ever career ranking, and Roddick in top form with his coach Jimmy Connors at his side. British viewers will be getting the coffee on standby as the match is due to air at 3am on Sunday morning (7pm local time).

Jamie Murray and Eric Butorac also won last night with a 6-4 6-3 win over Jim Thomas and Paul Goldstein, last year's finalists. They next face Lipsky and Martin in the semi final.

ATP Tour Latest News and Results

In San Jose, Ivo Karlovic beat Mardy Fish in straight sets, and will next face Benjamin Becker who defeated Marat Safin in 2 comfortable sets. Andy Roddick struggled in the second set against fellow American Vince Spadea, but came through in 3 and will face Andy Murray in the other semi, who took out Hyung Taik Lee in 3.

In Marseille, local favourite Richard Gasquet was taken out by Robin Soderling in straight sets. Last week's winner in Zagreb, Marcos Baghdatis also came through in 3 tough sets. Simon from France, and Nieminen from Finland also won.

Results for Feb15

In Marseille, 3 of the top players, Davydenko, Ljubicic and Ancic lost their opening round matches. To top it off, home fabourites Llodra and Clement also crashed out on Wednesday. Only Gasquet survived with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Jan Hernych from the Czech Republic.

In California, the top Americans all advanced to the next round, with straight-set wins over the opponents. Andy Murray also served up the first bagel of the week, defeating K Pless 6-0 6-7(5) 6-4. Andy is still on course to meet Roddick in the semis, the same macth as last year.

Andy prepares to defend his title in San Jose

Next week is the start of Andy's title defence in San Jose. His confidence will be sky high with his highest ever world ranking of 13. Expectations will be very different from this time last year when he was ranked outside of the top 60. You can follow his progress at andymurray.com.

Baghdatis wins second title in Zagreb

Marcos Baghdatis lifted his second trophy of his career when he beat Ljubicic in the Zagreb Open final. The marathon match took two and a half hours. "It was great to come back after the disappointment of Australia and win a tournament. I am very, very happy. I won the crucial points. I played a great tie-break and a great game at 5-4 in the third. Ivan was a bit tight and didn't serve so good in that game. I'll just try to keep the same mentality. Stay happy and keep working hard and everything should go well. I just have to play my game and enjoy it."

LTA unveils blueprint

The LTA blueprint has received a mixed reaction from the media and coaches following its release at the end of October.