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By Steve Tignor

The tennis tours are endlessly strange, aren’t they? We’ve got a schedule that spreads over 11 months, travels to every known city on the globe, and is played on a variety of surfaces. But the two biggest non-Slam dual-gender events of the year are contested in back-to-back weeks on similarly slow U.S. hard courts. For most of the year, pro tennis is utterly haphazard. In March, it climbs into one narrow box—where’s the middle ground?

No complaining, though, because like last week in Indian Wells, we have all the best male players in the world gathered into a 96 draw. We can’t ask for more than that, can we? Here’s how the draw breaks down in Key Biscayne (notice I'm boycotting the word "bracket" this time; just in case you care).

FIRST QUARTER

Roger Federer maintains his customary pole position at the top of the draw. Are we as sure of his ultimate victory as were before he was dropped last week by Guillermo Cañas? It’s amazing how quickly doubt can creep in—the guy wins 41 in a row, loses one, and I’m thinking, “This guy Federer is vulnerable now!” Of course, that means he’ll do whatever it takes to make any seeds of doubt die quickly.

Federer’s section is not loaded, but it’s tricky. First he’ll get the winner of Sam Querrey and Igor Andreev, neither one a pushover. Then he might be looking at Nicolas Almagro, who nearly beat him on clay last year. After that, he could potentially face either Cañas, Tim Henman, Juan Carlos Ferrero, or Richard Gasquet, all of whom own wins over Sire Jacket. In the bottom of the section, Tommy Haas, who's played Federer tough, may be waiting.

Semifinalist: Roger Federer

Read the rest of this article at The Wrap...