#NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz arrives at the BNP Paribas Open in peak physical condition, following the hard work he undertook during the off season with his team.

The 18-year-old is making his second appearance in Indian Wells. Ahead of his opening match in the California desert, he stressed the emphasis he placed on improving his fitness and strength during the past few months to help him compete at the top of the game.

“My team and I know how important it is to be strong physically,” Alcaraz said. “It was one thing we knew I had to improve a lot. It was a great focus during preseason. I am really happy. It gives me more confidence. I have more of a chance to keep my level high during a three or four-hour match against the best players.

“I enjoy the gym. I have been concentrating on every part of the body. I concentrate 100 per cent on the work, my biggest focus is on the legs. This is very important.”

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Alcaraz had a breakthrough 2021 season, cracking the Top 50 in the ATP Rankings, capturing his maiden tour-level title in Umag and lifting the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals trophy.

Under the guidance of coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, this season has started in a similar fashion, with the World No. 19 becoming the youngest ATP 500 champion since the category was created in 2009 when he triumphed in Rio de Janeiro.

“I didn’t have too much time to celebrate as I had the Davis Cup after Rio, but I had some time to enjoy it and celebrate the title,” Alcaraz said on his trophy run in Brazil. “It was so special, being with my family and friends.”

Alcaraz is the 19th seed at the ATP Masters 1000 event and is relishing the opportunity to compete at a tournament he enjoys playing at. He will begin his campaign against American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round after receiving a first-round bye.

On being seeded, the Spaniard said with a smile: “It is amazing. If you remember last year I lost in my first match [against Andy Murray]. I enjoy every single second here in Indian Wells. It is an amazing place and I am really happy to be back. Even happier that I am playing really well.

“I know McDonald is playing at a great level. I know it is going to be a great match and a really tough one. The first match in every tournament is tough.”

_{^{Photo Credit: Men’s Health Spain}}

When Felix Auger-Aliassime sat down to plan his season, he had one major goal in mind.

“In 2022 I want to win one or more titles,” said the Canadian as he let ATP Uncovered spend some time with him at his off-season training camp at the Monte Carlo Country Club. “I have what it takes to be able to do that.”

Auger-Aliassime was not wrong. Just two months later he clinched his maiden tour-level title at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, defeating Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to lifting the trophy.

As the 21-year-old starts his day in Monte Carlo start with a warm-up in the gym under the watchful eye of fitness coach Nicolas Perrotte, he acknowledges that the physical improvements that have brought him so much success on tour have not been built overnight, but over his whole career on tour.

“There hasn’t been a huge change from one year to another,” says Auger-Aliassime. “But [from 2016] until now, for sure my body has changed a lot.”

Auger-Aliassime’s dad, Sam, is nearby enjoying a morning workout of his own. Having his family with him for the off-season is another important part of Auger-Aliassime’s off-season plan.

“I like at the end of the year to bring everybody together. My full team, my agent, my family. It’s similar to what you grew up with, just the people that you care about the most that are here with you. You’re able to have good times off the court.”

The fitness work heats up as Auger-Aliassime and his fellow Canadian, World No. 328 Alexis Galarneau, move out to the practice court for a dynamic warm-up that includes a ball game named ‘Tack Tack’ and a rope jump workout. Tough going for a warm-up, but Auger-Aliassime is built of strong stuff.

“As an athlete, he has a lot of big qualities,” says Perrotte. “Strength, he’s fast as well. He has a good range of motion which is important as well.” All important factors that powered Auger-Aliassime to his maiden title in Rotterdam, a reward for the World No. 9’s persistence after losing his first eight ATP Tour finals. Despite the disappointments, he has enjoyed his Tour journey so far.

“I wouldn’t change a single thing. Maybe I would win a couple more matches. A final or two! But it’s been good.

“I feel like all these challenges that I’m facing now will help me be a better player and person in the future. I like to believe so.”

Nick Kyrgios is back in Indian Wells. And he’s feeling good.

“I’m just comfortable in my own skin,” said the Australian wild card after his impressive 6-4, 6-0 win over World No. 60 Sebastian Baez in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. “Mentally I feel the best I’ve probably ever felt, to be honest.”

The Baez clash was Kyrgios’ first match at Indian Wells since 2019, and the 26-year-old is also enjoying improved physical health as he seeks a strong run at the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the year.

“Physically I do not feel hindered anymore [with] my movement,” said Kyrgios at his post-match press conference. “Tonight, I was running for drop shots, [moving] side to side, I could slide again with no pain, on my serve I can land with no pain. I was able to play before [with the injury] but there was something in my mind that I was feeling. It was definitely weighing my game down.

“Physically I feel good, I haven’t felt my left knee feel that good in a while.”

The Australian’s best performance in Indian Wells was a quarter-final run in 2017 and he now faces Argentine Federico Delbonis in the second round. Kyrgios is also seeking doubles success this week, as he and Thanasi Kokkinakis look to back up their victory at the Australian Open in January. That experience is also feeding Kyrgios’ good vibes.

“Me and Thanasi, we grew up together since we were like eight years old, so it’s pretty crazy,” said Kyrgios. “I watched the highlights; I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

“We stepped up at different moments. When one of us wasn’t playing well, the other stepped up, and who knows what this year holds for the doubles. I feel confident on court now, singles and doubles, I feel like I’m returning the best I ever have, and Thanasi is playing well so we’ll see. We could lose 6-0, 6-0, but we could win the title too. Who knows?”

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With two chances of lifting a trophy in Indian Wells, things are looking up for Kyrgios. But the Australian is not getting carried away.

“I’m not thinking forward,” said Kyrgios. “I take it day by day, that’s my process. I wake up, I try and be positive, I try and be better every day. As for goals, for me it’s hard sometimes just to wake up in a positive mindset. That’s a win for me. I’m not saying I want to win Indian Wells or trying to make the semi-finals again in Miami…if I do that, it’s great, but I have those normal human issues that I’m trying to overcome every day.

“I’m seeming to find that balance at the moment, and I’m happy.”

Matthew Ebden enjoyed a dream run at the Australian Open with partner Max Purcell, soaring to the men’s doubles final in Melbourne.

However, while Ebden’s success at the first major of the season will go down as a career highlight, it left the 34-year-old in a spot of trouble as he was suddenly faced with missing the birth of his first child.

Following the championship match on 29 January, the Australian needed to return to Perth to be with his wife Kim, who was expecting their first child imminently. But with Covid-19 protocols in place in his home city in the state of western Australia, Ebden was forced to undertake a 14-day quarantine period by himself, leaving his return in jeopardy.

_{^{Photo Credit: Niki Spencer}}
Thankfully, the four-time tour-level doubles titlist arrived in time to welcome baby boy Harvey Matthew Ebden into the world on 15 February.

“[It was] quite surreal, and then all of a sudden you just go to loving him and caring for him instantly,” Ebden told ATPTour.com on the birth of his child.

_{^{Photo Credit: Niki Spencer}}
Ebden is aiming to return to the Tour at the Miami Open presented by Itau at the end of March and is planning on Kim and Harvey travelling with him by the middle of the year.

Sebastian Korda’s fast-moving rise hit another milestone on Thursday as the American beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets to secure a first career-win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The World No. 38 found a little extra at key moments at the ATP Masters 1000 event to secure a 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory and set a second-round clash with Rafael Nadal. With the win, Korda backed up his straight-sets triumph over Kokkinakis in the pair’s only previous meeting in the Delray Beach quarter-finals in February.

The accomplished performance continues a solid start to 2022 for Korda, who enjoyed a stellar 2021 season in which he notched a personal-best 31 wins, secured his first ATP Tour title in Parma and reached the championship match of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.

In Kokkinakis he came up against an opponent riding a wave of his own. The Australian lifted his first tour-level trophy at the Adelaide International 2 in January, but he could not find the form that inspired him to the title in his hometown as his American opponent progressed in California.

Both players struggled on serve early on in blustery conditions, but it was Korda who edged ahead as he broke three times to secure the first set.

The level increased in a tighter second set as both players began to acclimatise to the wind, and there were no break chances until Korda made a decisive move in the ninth game by breaking to love. The American held his nerve to save two break points before converting his first match point and improve his overall record at ATP Masters 1000 events to 8-5.

Korda’s shot-making was more consistent throughout. According to Infosys ATP Stats, the American struck 22 winners to his opponent’s 12 and was also effective at the net, winning 67 per cent (14/21) points coming forward as he secured victory in 89 minutes.

The #NextGenATP American can now look forward to a second-round clash with 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. Korda won just four games across three sets in the pair’s first meeting at Roland Garros in 2020.

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Flying high after winning a maiden ATP Tour title in Santiago in February, Spain’s Pedro Martinez continued his good form with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Joao Sousa.

World No. 49 Martinez consistently found a way to pressure his Portuguese opponent on serve to reach the second round in Indian Wells for the second time. The Spaniard broke five times in the match to secure victory, and will next face defending champion Cameron Norrie.

Elsewhere, Czech Tomas Machac enjoyed his ATP Masters 1000 main-draw debut as he downed Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 7-5 to set a meeting with World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.

The qualifier produced a resilient performance to edge No. 89-ranked Popyrin, saving 13 of 14 break points he faced while converting four of his own on his way to victory.

Another qualifier, American Christopher Eubanks, cut through the serve and volley game of countryman Maxime Cressy to clinch his first tour-level win of the year.

Eubanks broke Cressy only once in the match, but it was enough to earn a 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4 win to reach the second round in Indian Wells for the second year in a row. He will next face eighth seed Casper Ruud.

Earlier on Thursday Federico Coria secured his first career win in Indian Wells, beating Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 7-6(5).

The Argentine produced a solid performance to take advantage of an erratic display from his opponent, who struck 25 winners but also 34 unforced errors. World No. 65 Coria will now face 27th seed Daniel Evans in the second round.

The achievements are beginning to add up for Shang Juncheng, the 17-year-old who qualified for the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. The teen will be the first Chinese man to play in the main draw at Indian Wells and the first player from his country to qualify for an ATP Masters 1000 event among other accomplishments.

Any time you do something that puts you in the same sentence as Rafael Nadal — Shang is the youngest Masters 1000 qualifier since a 16-year-old Nadal in Hamburg in 2003 — things are probably going well.

“It’s always special to see what I’ve accomplished,” Shang, who advanced past Francisco Cerundolo and Mats Moraing in qualifying, told ATPTour.com. “But for me, it’s more important to move forward.”

Shang, who will play fellow qualifier Jaume Munar on Friday, will move forward with plenty of eager followers, especially in China. CCTV-5 News, which broadcasts to more than one billion consumers across the country, shared an interview about his Indian Wells qualification on Thursday.

According to Zhang Bendou, who won the 2013 Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award in the ATP Awards, fans in China are eager for a man from their country to crack the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time.

“Right now every move of Juncheng is big news and being closely watched among tennis fans here,” Zhang said. “Men’s tennis in China has been a myth for many years. China can send rockets to space, among many other great things, but we just haven’t been able to produce even one ATP Top 100 player all along. We have been waiting too long. Now, we hope the wait will soon be over.”

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Shang’s tennis journey began just more than a decade ago. His father, Shang Yi, and mother, Wu Na, were both professional athletes. Shang played football and Wu was a world-championship winning table tennis player. They both enjoy tennis and introduced their son to the sport when he was six.

“I remember it was in an indoor facility and you could hear a lot of players hitting and the ball sound was really loud. I thought it was really cool you could hit with another player. It’s just more intense with the competition,” Shang said. “My parents really loved tennis. They both were athletes, so sports to them were just daily things. They got me into tennis and I really loved it, especially the competition.”

Like most kids who grew up in recent years, Shang’s favourite players were the ‘Big Three’ — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. But early on, he was most interested in getting on court himself.

“Playing was the most fun,” Shang said. “I always thought when I was playing on court, it was cool, more than just watching the guys play. But as I got more into tennis when I was older and watching the big names play was very fun for me. I think when I was eight, I started loving it.

“For every player when they are little, when they pick up a racquet, they dream of being on the biggest stages in tennis. I was one of those kids and playing just makes me very happy.”

Shang trained at the Academia Sanchez-Casal Nanjing in China, a branch of the academy run by Spanish legend Emilio Sanchez. Shang’s father played football in Spain, so in that sense there was familiarity.

“He really trusted the process of how Spanish players were made and we were actually going to Spain,” Shang recalled. “But we heard that Emilio Sanchez moved to the United States, so that’s why we got into the academy there in Naples.”

At age 12, ‘Jerry’ and his father moved to Florida, where he immediately made an impression on Sanchez, who reached World No. 7 in singles and No. 1 in doubles.

“He was always a super nice kid. He always had his way of doing things, it seemed he always had one more gear,” Sanchez said. “He played at a pace, then he played another match at another pace, he always had an extra gear to play with.”

Shang began training at the IMG Academy, also in Florida, when he was nearly 15. At 16, he became the No. 1 junior in the world. The Chinese teen has proven comfortable against the pros, winning four ITF World Tennis Tour events. Sanchez believes he has a complete game. But if there is one thing he can improve, it is gaining more of an advantage from his serve.

“Everybody will see him and say, ‘This kid is effortless’. It will be very difficult to break him down. Normally kids, they don’t have the physical power, but he has the physicality to be very low,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t matter how good the player is on the other side. He will not bend, he will always stay straight. He has a super strong core. He does things smoothly and he will absorb any type of power from the opponents in a very, very nice way.”

^{Shang Juncheng reached the 2021 US Open boys’ singles final. Photo Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images}
Shang could become a trailblazer for men’s tennis in China the way Li Na, a two-time major winner, was for the sport as a whole.

“She was one of my idols growing up and watching her win the Slams is the most special thing ever,” Shang said. “Especially seeing Chinese players can do it gave me a lot of hope.”

Zhang Bendou added that anticipation for Shang’s future is growing. “Juncheng Shang has created history and is a big hit among his Chinese fans and on social media. Since our gold medal in the Athens Olympics in 2004, Chinese tennis fans are really spoiled by their players, but just on the women’s side, led by Li Na and her colleagues,” Zhang said. “You should always have balance between yin and yang, right? They are really looking forward to have a tour-level men’s player, now they might get one.”

Sanchez believes that there is no doubt Shang will ascend into the Top 100 and make national history. The Spaniard is not concerned with the pressure on the teen.

“He doesn’t have pressure from China. He’ll have the pressure globally whenever he arrives, but not because he’s going to be the best Chinese player,” Sanchez said. “He wants to really be on top and he has that capacity to be on top.”

This is a massive moment for the highly touted youngster. But you would not have known it Thursday. Shang did both American and Chinese media before taking a seat inside Stadium 1 to watch a WTA match between Caroline Garcia and Dayana Yastremska.

Shang is like many out there, a kid who loves tennis. Off the court, he likes playing golf and reading books. The Harry Potter series is “by far” his favourite — Harry is his favourite character — and he has recently been reading Sandworms of Dune. But for now, he is focussed on the opportunity at hand against Munar.

“I’m just really happy to even play in this tournament and qualifying was one of the biggest goals for me this year,” Shang said. “I’m excited. Hopefully, I can give him a fight.”

Fabio Fognini made history on Thursday afternoon in Indian Wells.

By rallying past Spaniard Pablo Andujar 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, Fognini passed former World No. 4 Adriano Panatta for the most wins by an Italian male in history with 392.

“It’s nice for sure. I didn’t know before the match, believe me,” Fognini told ATPTour.com. “They are just statistics, but of course I’m happy. Now they compare me to the big ones. Adriano was an idol when I was young, so I’m really happy. It’s not the end. I’ll continue fighting and let’s see what happens.”

Most Wins By An Italian Male

Fognini claimed his first tour-level win in 2006 in Amersfoort. Since then, he has lifted nine ATP Tour trophies, including an ATP Masters 1000 triumph at the 2019 Rolex Paris Masters. The 34-year-old, who has climbed as high as No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, did not necessarily expect to accomplish all he has.

“If I have to be honest, not really. But you go day by day, tournament by tournament, year by year. If I’m looking back at my career, I did something great. Probably in the past two months, especially after Australia I started enjoying a little more my tennis, even if it’s difficult traveling without my family,” Fognini said. “This job is not going to go forever, so I’m trying to enjoy my last years of competition and we’ll see. But at the moment I’m happy for sure.”

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The Italian, who will next face 2021 finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili, is trying to regain his form following arthroscopic surgery on both his ankles in May 2020. Now he feels motivated and it showed in his comeback against Andujar.

“It was not easy because the conditions were not great conditions. It’s windy, it’s cold. It changes constantly,” Fognini said. “But I’m happy the way I’m fighting and of course that at the end I won my match.”

Another Italian who advanced Thursday was #NextGenATP star Lorenzo Musetti, who eliminated American Marcos Giron 6-3, 7-5.

Musetti, who competed in last year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, has already reached quarter-finals in Rotterdam and Pune this year. The 20-year-old next faces another home favourite, 17th seed Reilly Opelka.