A look back at possibly the toughest ATP tournament of all time where Roger Federer was forced to play Andy Murray in the first round

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The ATP Tour roars on this week, with many of the world’s top players taking on the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Roger Federer boasts a record eight Dubai Tennis Championships titles, followed by the five of Novak Djokovic.

Their fellow legends Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick have also won the tournament, which is now underway once more.

The women’s event meanwhile has just finished, with Mirra Andreeva winning the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Andreeva is motivated by Federer, who was once involved in possibly the toughest ATP tournament of all time when he took on the 2008 Dubai Tennis Championships.

Andy Murray beats Roger Federer in star-studded 2008 Dubai Tennis Championships

The ATP 500 event featured a long list of high-profile stars, with the top eight seeds having remarkably all been top 10 players.

The last direct acceptance meanwhile was Marin Cilic, who was ranked world number 45 at the time of the competition.

READ MORE: What Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur both predicted about Mirra Andreeva which has already come true

Unsurprisingly then, the first round threw up some mouthwatering ties, including Federer versus Murray and Novak Djokovic versus Cilic.

The former was, however, undoubtedly the main event, with the Swiss icon taking on the Scot as the top seed and indeed the defending champion.

But it was Murray who would progress, defeating Federer 6-7(6-8), 6-3, 6-4 en route to reaching the quarter-finals, where he lost to Nikolay Davydenko.

It was, however, Roddick who would impressively lift the trophy, with the American beating Feliciano Lopez 6-7(8-10), 6-4, 6-2 in a thrilling final.

How did the top eight seeds do at the 2008 Dubai Tennis Championships?

This year’s focus turns to the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur, who are the first and second seeds respectively.

Completing the top 10 theme is third seed Andrey Rublev, who just beat Jack Draper in the final of the Qatar Open.

READ MORE: Alex de Minaur on the biggest change he’s noticed in tennis since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal retired from the sport

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ugo Humbert are the fourth and fifth seeds respectively, with the latter the Dubai Tennis Championships defending champion.

It is certainly quite a difference compared to the 2008 tournament, where top seed Federer suffered the earliest exit out of the top eight seeds.

Also involved that year were the likes of Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils, but like Federer they were sent home after just one round.