Most tennis fans are hoping that past is indeed prologue this weekend in Miami during the Sony Ericsson Championships, arguably the most important and largest event outside of the four Slams. The reason: World No. 1 Roger Federer and his longtime partner in blissful crime, fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal are on track to meet in the finals on Sunday (of course Nadal's ranking has "plummeted" to fourth due to his injuries over the last year).

It has been nearly a year since these two rivals faced off last May in Madrid, when Federer utterly demolished Nadal. In retrospect that match was an indicator of Nadal's fragile physical condition heading into the 2009 French Open where the Spaniard was shocked by Robin Soderling in one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. Nadal has yet to fully rediscover his top form since that time, though he is approaching his former self. This is the longest stretch of time that the two rivals have gone without meeting on the court in five years. It's time for them to restart their epic competition.

And tennis needs the dynamic duo to meet on Sunday, as there's been a distinctive lull in the men's game since last year's U.S. Open. Having been deprived of Federer and Nadal playing each other in finals for such an extended period is in the category of "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone" - though I suspect most sports fan have been sufficiently appreciative of their glorious rivalry.

Following Juan Martin Del Potro's frightening display of power, especially off his forehand side, that he used to dismantle Federer at the U.S. Open final in September, I, along with most supposedly astute followers of the sport, thought that the battle to take on Federer had been sufficiently joined and finally there were a host of eager suitors to nudge both Federer and Nadal off their calcified positions at the top of the rankings.

After all, Andy Murray was finally realizing the promise - and the burden - that so many in Great Britain have projected for the Scot for so long now. And Novak Djokovic already has a Slam title to his name, winning the 2008 Australian Open and seemed primed to fulfill his potential.

But none of this has happened. The trio of Murray, Djokovic and Del Potro have accomplished little this year, accounting for a grand total of one title (to be fair, Del Potro has been injured and hasn't played since the Australian Open).

After playing superb tennis to reach the final in Australia with many prognosticators picking him to win, Andy Murray played a strategically faulty and lackluster match against Federer and went down to quick defeat against the Swiss master for the second time in their two Slam final encounters. The questions about Murray's ability to win the big one will grow more numerous with each passing event. Often it appears that Murray lets his emotions get the best of him as his confidence seems to visibly drain when down in a match.

As is the case with all of us, one's strengths and weaknesses are intrinsically linked, and with Murray, his superb retrieving skills often can lull him into a non-aggressive mindset which is never going to work against Federer in a big match. And he should know better as he still possesses a 6-5 edge against Roger in their matches - but Federer treats a Grand Slam encounter differently, hence his dominance over Murray in the majors.

Djokovic is an even odder case. The soon-to-be 23-year-old Serb performed admirably for the first several weeks of the year but has looked downright forlorn on court of late, losing early in each of the last two tournaments. Djokovic has fought both physical and mental demons throughout his career as his stamina and misunderstood humor have gotten the best of him. But when he hired former top 10 player Todd Martin, most thought it was a great decision, as Martin was one of the steadier and smarter players on tour during the 1990s. He was that "other American" aside from Hall of Famers Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang during that last American reign. Djokovic too will have to regroup and find that fleeting confidence to augment his terrific all-court game.

So full circle it all may come if Federer and Nadal can take care of business these next few days as they seek to reaffirm their rightful dominance over all comers - and obviously Federer's dominance is rarely in question anyway. Federer won his fourth-round match yesterday - though barely - and has the easier draw and he should be playing on Sunday barring a significant upset. Nadal has a more difficult path to the final with Jo Tsonga, a player who has given Nadal fits on hard courts in the past, as a possible quarterfinal match, with Andy Roddick most likely waiting in the semis.

Nadal looked like his old self at the Indian Wells Masters event two weekends ago until being shocked by Ivan Ljubicic and though he struggled against the mercurial David Nalbandian on Sunday, he nonetheless ran away with the match toward the end.

In the final stage of his glorious career, Federer clearly - though I doubt he'd ever admit it - doesn't put as much energy into Masters events, as he wants to peak at the Slams. I'd do the same thing with such a historic resume to show for it. After all, Grand Slam performance is the only measuring stick for greatness now. But I'd wager that if he were to make Sunday's final and be staring across the net at Nadal, his once and future nemesis, the match may take on the feel of Paris in June or London in July. Let's hope it happens.