Tennis roundup: Federer, Murray, Djokovic and Nadal in action as they gear up for Australian Open

The 2017 tennis season has got off to a flyer with the likes of Roger Federer, Sir Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal taking part in various tournaments in the run up to the first Major Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open. Tennis fans from around the world will be particularly happy to see Federer back in action after the Swiss missed out on major part of the last season due to injury.

Check out the complete tennis schedule for 2017

Roger Federer kicked off 2017 by playing the Hopman Cup after a 15-year-break partenering alongside Belinda Bencic in the doubles. Federer started off by defeating Great Britain's Daniel Evans in straight sets and followed it up with another win in the doubles category. More importantly, the 17 time Grand Slam champion did not show any signs of wear and tear and looked in good form. Federer will play Alexander Zverev of Germany next.

Sir Andy Murray, who usually competes at the Hopman Cup in preparation for the Australian Open, chose to play at Qatar Open instead. The Scot will be looking to better his five runner-up medals at the Australian Open and retain the No. 1 spot. Murray extended his career best winning run to 25 matches after he won his opening match at the Qatar Open beating Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straight sets. He will play Gerald Melzer in the next round.

Novak Djokovic, whose last six months was one of the worst in his professional career, is determined to make amends this season. He started the season with Qatar Open as he looks to regain the World No. 1 spot. He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.

Djokovic lost the first four games against the German and the German served twice for the set from 5-1 but Djokovic turned things around and won five games in a row and then went on to win the match comfortably. This is the kind of tennis the world expects from Djokovic. He looks like he is back to his best and more determined than ever to show the world what he is made of. The Serb will take on Horacio Zeballos in the next round.

Serena Williams who recently dropped down to number two in the tennis rankings suffered a shock defeat at the ASB classics in the second round losing to Madison Brengle.

Rafael Nadal who has not been at his best for some time now put in a decent performance in his first match of 2017 at the Brisbane International as he managed to defeat Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets. It took Nadal on 74 minutes to win the match with the Spaniard set to face Mischa Zverev in the second round. Nadal who has not won a Grand Slam for more than two and a half years now still has not faced a serious opponent who could put up a challenge but Nadal is confident that he is back to his best.

The action in the Chennai Open continues today with No1 seeded player Marin Cilic and No3 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in action today. The doubles pair of Leander Paes and Andre Sa will take on the Indian duo of Purva Raja and Divij Sharan. The Other main matches today see Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan N in doubles action while the experienced Yen-Hsun Lu will take on 20 year old Russian Daniil Medvedev.

Where to watch

Hopman Cup

India: Sony ESPN/ Sony ESPN HD. Live Streaming: Sonyliv

Europe: Eurosport

South Africa: Supersport

USA: Tennis Channel Plus

Latin America and Caribbean: ESPN

Qatar Open

India: Ten2. Live Streaming: TenSports.com

USA: Fox Sports 3/HD3

Brisbane International

India: TV: Sony ESPN/HD Live Streaming: Sonyliv

Australia: 7TWO, 7HD

USA: Tennis Channel

Chennai Open

India: TV: Sony Six/ Sony Six HD. Live Streaming: Sonyliv