With 23 professional tournaments contested throughout 2015, China has established itself as a premier location for world-class men’s tennis in Asia. But a new facility in the city of Zhuhai, which plays host to a $50,000+H event this week on the ATP Challenger Tour, has gone above and beyond in their bid to grow the sport across the country.

Construction on the Hengqin International Tennis Center began last February and was completed in eight months, just in time to host the WTA Elite Trophy event in November. Located on Hengqin Island, just next to the coastal region of Macau, the 60,000 square metre complex includes a 5,000-seat centre court, five match courts and 12 training courts, all of which have lights for evening play. The $84 million project was designed by Populous, a global architect company that also designed the new roof on Wimbledon’s Centre Court and the recently completed Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open.

“The facilities and venue here are among the top for Challenger tournaments,” said Wu Di, China’s top singles player at No. 171 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. “I thought it could host an ATP World Tour 500 event or even a Masters 1000 event.”

One of the most popular features for spectators is the roof over Zhuhai’s centre court. With a cantilevered outer section over the seating and a circular inner roof over the court, it protects from the rain and also allows light to filter in. Players have praised the roof for how it shields them from the glare of the sun.

Ji Ming, Vice General Manager of Zhuhai Huafa Sports Operation Management Company, said the tennis centre will be available for the public to use year-round. Tennis is already one of the most popular recreational activities among residents of Zhuhai. The city has a population of just one million people, but nearly 10,000 residents can be found playing tennis after work every day.

The centre court also hosted a concert last December by Chinese singer Jane Zhang and will eventually look to welcome other sporting events such as boxing. But for now, Ming said that tennis remains the top priority as the facility looks to double in size.

“The second part of the tennis centre is on its way and will be another 60,000 square metres,” he said. “When it’s done, it will be even more magnificent.”

Sascha Zverev dug deep to eliminate veteran Ivan Dodig 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. The 18 year old German needed two hours and 18 minutes to see off the 31 year old Croat in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, benefitting from an unusual, momentum-turning incident.

“I thought he twisted his ankle at the first, but then I saw him bleeding pretty close to the eye and I was like, wow, he probably hit himself with the racquet,” said Zverev, who was across the net when his opponent took a tumble, then hit himself in the face with his frame at 3-6, 1-1. “I don’t know what happened, to be quite honest. I didn’t see it, but he started bleeding quite heavily then.”

Dodig’s medical timeout allowed the young German to regroup. Zverev converted on two of nine break points in the second set to even the match, then won 11 of 12 first-serve points in the deciding set to secure victory. Next up for Zverev will be No. 23 seed Grigor Dimitrov, who holds a 1-0 lead in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry (2014 Basel).

Vasek Pospisil was made to work hard before eliminating American wild card Jared Donaldson 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3. The Canadian struck nine aces and needed almost three hours to close out the win. He will face Gilles Simon in the second round.

“I’m happy with the way I played and the way I fought,” said Pospisil, who represented Canada last week in a Davis Cup tie against France on a clay court in Guadeloupe. “The conditions were tough here. They’re polar opposite from what I played last week, so it’s a little bit of an adjustment, but he played a good match and he surprised me a little bit. He was playing well, and I had to play some great tennis to win today.”

Mikhail Kukushkin will play No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori in the second round after downing Daniel Munoz de la Nava 7-6(1), 6-2. The Kazakh will be looking for his first victory against the Japanese in six meetings.

Rafael Nadal will open against fellow left-hander Gilles Muller in the second round. The big-serving Muller defeated Victor Estrella-Burgos 7-5, 6-3, firing 16 aces in the process. Muller has shown flashes of brilliance in four previous tour-level meetings with Nadal, pushing three of their past six sets to a tie-break and beating a 19-year-old Nadal at Wimbledon in 2005.

Qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo earned his first ATP World Tour victory with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Teymuraz Gabashvili. The American did not face a break point in the 82-minute win. His next opponent will be top seed and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic.

“I feel amazing. It’s a great feeling to get my first ATP win, and to do it in a 1000 event, to play Djokovic [next], it’s a pretty surreal feeling. I’m going to enjoy this as much as I can right now,” Fratangelo said.

John Isner and Milos Raonic, two of the most fearsome servers on the ATP World Tour, teamed up for the first time to take out Colin Fleming and Andy Murray 7-5, 6-7(5), 10-8 at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. Isner/Raonic fired six aces in the one-hour, 43-minute win and saved all eight break points faced.

It was Raonic’s first doubles match of the season, while Isner won a match in Auckland (partnering Rosol) before withdrawing from the event.

Murray/Fleming did not miss a first serve in the Match Tie-break, but their towering opponents won three return points (3/9) to move on.

Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem defeated Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Benoit Paire 6-3, 4-6, 10-4. The German/Austrian pairing were nearly unbeatable on their first delivery, winning 90 per cent of first serve points. Gasquet/Paire saved 12 of 13 break points, but succumbed in 70 minutes.

Roberto Bautista Agut and Victor Troicki downed Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers 2-6, 6-3, 10-4 in 68 minutes. The Spanish/Serbian duo won 57 points to their opponents’ 55 and notched their first team win in three attempts.

To watch the BNP Paribas Open online, visit TennisTV.com.

The Californian desert has been a happy hunting ground for Novak Djokovic. The World No. 1 is a four-time champion in Indian Wells and is looking to make it three titles in a row at the year’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

But how does he do it? For the Serb, it starts with preparation.

“All the tennis players are required to acclimatise as soon as possible because that’s part of what we do, and you can’t afford to waste too much of your time,” Djokovic said. “I heard about the theory of necessity for the body to get acclimated to a certain time zone, that you need as many days as the time difference in hours. So basically, if you’re going to Australia, a ten-hour difference in relation to Europe, then you need 10 days to really get your body used to it.

“But from my personal experience, you can do it much quicker. I believe in nutrition and hydration and the mental side of it. If you prepare yourself for going to that place, you set your clock, and you really devote yourself to that part of the world, then it seems easier.”

Djokovic has been in Indian Wells for nearly a week after helping Serbia advance to the Davis Cup quarter-finals, and he feels ready to defend his title.

“The conditions are pretty suitable to my style of play,” he noted. “I like to have a little bit more time to construct the point. I feel comfortable with the speed of the court and the surface. Especially in the afternoon and night matches, when it’s a bit slower.

“The ball bounces high. I grew up on clay. I grew up with a high bounce. I feel comfortable playing on these courts.”

The top player in the Emirates ATP Rankings has 61 tour-level titles and admits that playing in front of a large crowd on a big stage provides him with an additional jolt of energy.

“[The BNP Paribas Open is] setting a really high standard in attracting more fans and increasing the attendance each year,” Djokovic said. “The fans are truly great. You can see how much they love tennis. Every practice session is full. Every match that you play, they are there from the very beginning.

“[I look] forward to performing in such circumstances in front of people who really appreciate me being there.”