Roger Federer is aiming to get back to No. 1 and Stanislas Wawrinka back to No. 10, and the Swiss pair kicked off their campaigns with title victories in Doha and Chennai, respectively.
Federer, who added Paul Annacone to his coaching team last summer and ended the year by winning the ATP World Tour finals, defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 to win Doha and capture his second title in a row.
Federer is one week away from breaking the record for most weeks at No. 1, but remains well behind Rafael Nadal in the rankings and will be defending the Australian Open title later this month. "It's going to be really difficult, but if I keep playing at the level I have here, and playing only finals as I have lately, I feel like I have a chance," Federer said of getting back to No. 1. "But have to keep it up."
Davydenko concurred. "Federer never played better against me than today," said the Russian, who defeated Federer and Nadal at this event a year ago.
He repeated his victory over a flu-struck Nadal in the semifinals, but could not do the same against Federer. "He was fantastic, made so many fast points and was very difficult to play," said Davydenko. "If he holds to this level for the year he can be number one again for sure."
Wawrinka hired new coach Peter Lundgren last summer to try to return to the Top 10, with that goal reportedly even the reason for his separation from his wife and daughter last year.
He defeated Xavier Malisse 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 for this third tournament victory.
"I'm more than happy, it was a perfect week," said Wawrinka, last year's finalist. "I improved my game day after day and finished with a great match. It's amazing to have the trophy today."