It’s unusual for an ATP 250 event to feature players in the top 5.  Usually, most ATP 250 events scrounge to get a single player in the top 10. Yet, Doha, year after year, boasts a stellar field.

This year, Doha’s field includes world number 1, Roger Federer, world number 2, Rafael Nadal, and world number 6, Nikolay Davydenko.   So far, the top two seeds are on track to meet one another in the finals.  All players played today.  Rafael Nadal played Steve Darcis.  Darcis, who proves that not all Belgian players are women coming back from retirement, himself retired after going down 6-1, 2-0.

Viktor Troicki of Serbia and the 5th seed beat Polish player Lukazs Kubot in three tough sets, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

Roger Federer also had his own challenges with perpetual up-and-comer, Ernests Gulbis, requiring three sets to defeat the Latvian, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.  It’s hard to say (without having seeing the match) whether Federer is still in his funk of the last few years or whether Gulbis, after the past 2 years, has finally gotten his act together and is playing smarter tennis.

The remaining match pits hard serving Ivo Karlovic against the speedy Russian, Nikolay Davydenko.  It was a little over a month ago when Davydenko beat both Federer and Nadal in the ATP World Tour Finals held in London.  Is he ready to do that once again?  First, he has to get past Karlovic who he has a 3-1 lifetime record against.

This is shaping up to be an interesting semifinal and final, with a little over a week before the start of the Australian Open.