Nadal, Federer renew rivalry in Doha

It was an unusual tennis experience as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal kicked off the 2011 ATP World Tour season in Doha by hitting tennis balls on a court laid in the water of Doha Bay ahead of the Qatar Open.

The two are the top seeds at the tournament, which began on Monday.

"It was a fantastic experience," said World No 1 and No 1 seed Nadal of the experience of playing on a water-laid court.

"For the past three years we have done a few different things, and this one was a very nice experience. It's going to be a very exciting season for me, I think. I would love to play against Roger a few more times this year, because when we play each other it's in the final," he added.

Reflecting on the field for the tournament, Nadal said: "The best of history is here, Roger and a lot of very good players, former champions, (Nikolay) Davydenko, (Jo- Wilfried) Tsonga, (Philipp) Kohlschreiber, (Ernests) Gulbis, (Viktor) Troicki -- lot of very good players are here so it's going to be a really interesting hunt for sure, competitive tournament."

Two- time champion Federer is No 2 in the list of eight seeded players. After beating Nadal in the 2010 season-ending World Tour Finals, Federer is excited about his 2011 campaign.

"Now I'm really prepared for it. The break wasn't very long, which I think in this case is quite an advantage for me because I played so well at the end, so I actually haven't lost much of my game and I feel like I'm actually playing pretty well already," Federer said.

On the experience of playing on a water-laid court, Federer said: "It was good fun. It was so different. You're always excited and nervous to see how it will turn out. It is always nice promoting an event and an entire tour with Rafa," he added.