The Miami Masters will be back this March, and the ATP and WTA's best will be in attendance

The Miami Masters is one of the most exciting tournaments on the tennis schedule, and due to its status as one of the higher tier events, it's a guarantee that all of the highest ranked players in the world will be vying for the titles here.

The inevitable popularity of this event is confirmed by last year's attendance statistics. Over 315,000 people walked through the gates of the The Crandon Park Tennis Center in 2011. The action took place on ten of the eighteen Laykold Cushion Plus courts here, with the Stadium Court and Grandstand Court playing host to all of the biggest matches.

A look at how last year's draw panned out will tell you all that you need to know about the standard of tennis that is played here. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were all in the semi-final last season, as well as Mardy Fish, who finished the year inside of the top ten. The eventual final between Nadal and Djokovic turned out to be one of the matches of the season, with Djokovic staging a magnificent comeback. This was dramatically finished with a third set tie breaker, in which the Serb came out on top.

The women's draw also provided some great matchups, with Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka,Vera Zvonareva and Andrea Petkovic all making lengthy runs. The final was eventually won by Azarenka. The rising star produced one of the most polished performances of her career to date to beat Maria Sharapova in straight sets.

The tournament here in Key Biscayne should once again be a thriller in 2012. Nadal will be keen to work his way back to the top spot, whilst the presence of Federer, Djokovic and Andy Murray, rounding out the big four, will add to the excitement. A host of other ATP stars such as David Ferrer, Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych will also be aiming to make title challenges.

The WTA is in great shape at the moment too, and this is good for the Miami Masters. This season we can hope to see Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Na Li and Sam Stosur mix it up with the new stars of the game, such as Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova.