DAY 9 PREVIEW: Two star-studded quarter-finals featuring four Top 10 players await fans at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday: Top seed Novak Djokovic vs. No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal vs. No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori. Three of Nadal’s record 27 ATP Masters 1000 titles have come in Indian Wells. That’s one more Masters 1000 and one less BNP Paribas Open title than Djokovic has won as the Serb nears a tournament-record fifth championship.

Friday’s first-quarterfinal pits a pair of players who saved one match point in the fourth round. Nadal rallied from 5-2 down in the third set to defeat 18-year-old Alexander Zverev, while Nishikori edged No. 9 seed John Isner without a single service break. Nadal owns a 7-1 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record against Nishikori, who beat him in their last meeting at 2015 ATP Masters 1000 Montréal.

The 2007, 2009 and 2013 BNP Paribas Open champion Nadal has won only one of the last 20 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. Djokovic has triumphed at 12 ATP Masters 1000 events during that stretch, highlighted by back-to-back BNP Paribas Open titles. He is 14-6 overall against Tsonga (8-6 on hard courts), though the Frenchman has beaten him twice at this level. Tsonga defeated Djokovic en route to titles at 2008 ATP Masters 1000 Paris and 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto.

Following the singles quarter-finals, reigning champions Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil meet Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in a doubles semi-final. Lopez and Lopez denied Jamie Murray the No. 1 ranking by beating the Brit and Bruno Soares in a match tiebreak on Thursday. Feliciano Lopez will be the only man on the court Friday who hasn’t won the BNP Paribas Open. Marc Lopez captured the title in 2010 and 2012 with Nadal, who like Feliciano Lopez, is a left-handed Spaniard.

FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: Singles Quarter-finals

[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) Nadal Leads 7-1
08 London/Queen’s Club (Great Britain) Grass R16 Rafael Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-3
10 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R128 Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-4 6-4
11 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-4
12 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-4
13 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-1 6-3
14 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R16 Rafael Nadal 7-6(3) 7-5 7-6(3)
14 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay F Rafael Nadal 2-6 6-4 3-0 ret
15 ATP Masters 1000 Montréal (Canada) Hard QF Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-4

Nadal 2016 FastFacts
F: Doha (l. to Djokovic); SF (2): Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem); Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas)
YTD W-L: 11-4 (7-2 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 67
Date of Birth: June 3, 1986
Emirates ATP Ranking: 5
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result): 47-8 (2007, 2009, 2013 Champion)

• 2016 Indian Wells: Saved 1 MP vs. A. Zverev in 4R and 5 set points in 2nd set vs. Verdasco in 3R
• Tournament Note: Winner of 3 singles and 2 doubles titles (2010 and 2012 w/M. Lopez)
• Reached 99th career final to start season in Doha (l. to No. 1 Djokovic)
• Lost to eventual champions in back-to-back SFs at Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem after holding 1 MP) and Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas)
• Suffered 2nd Grand Slam 1R loss of career at Australian Open vs. Verdasco in 4h41m, 5-set marathon

Nishikori 2016 FastFacts
W: Memphis (d. Fritz); QF (2): Brisbane (l. to Tomic); Australian Open (l. to Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 14-4 (14-4 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 11
Date of Birth: December 29, 1989
Emirates ATP Ranking: 6
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result): 7-7 (2016 Quarter-finalist)

• 2016 Indian Wells: Saved 1 MP and did not earn a BP in 16 76(2) 76(5) win over [9] Isner in 4R
• Tournament Note: Reached QF-or-better at 7 of 9 ATP Masters 1000 events (all but Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati)
• Captured 4th straight Memphis title and extended win streak at event to 17 matches (d. Fritz)
• Advanced to 3rd Australian Open QF of career (d. No. 10 Tsonga, l. to No. 1 Djokovic)
• Beat Evans before falling to No. 2 Murray in 5 sets, snapping 12-match Davis Cup win streak (GBR d. JPN 3-1)
• Reached Brisbane QF (l. to Tomic) and Acapulco 2R (l. to Querrey)

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [7] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Djokovic Leads 14-6
08 Australian Open (Australia) Hard F Novak Djokovic 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(2)
08 Bangkok (Thailand) Hard F Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(4) 6-4
08 ATP Masters 1000 Paris (France) Hard R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 1-6 6-3
08 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Hard RR Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1-6 7-5 6-1
09 Marseille (France) Hard SF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 7-6(1)
09 ATP Masters 1000 Miami (U.S.A.) Hard QF Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4
10 Australian Open (Australia) Hard QF Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(8) 6-7(5) 1-6 6-3 6-1
11 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass SF Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 6-2 6-7(9) 6-3
11 ATP Masters 1000 Montréal (Canada) Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-0 ret
12 ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay QF Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-1
12 Roland Garros (France) Clay QF Novak Djokovic 6-1 5-7 5-7 7-6(6) 6-1
12 London Olympics (Great Britain) Grass QF Novak Djokovic 6-1 7-5
12 Beijing (China) Hard F Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 6-2
12 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Hard RR Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 6-3
13 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard QF Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-1
13 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard SF Novak Djokovic 6-2 7-5
14 Roland Garros (France) Clay R16 Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4 6-1
14 Wimbledon (Great Britain) Grass R16 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4 7-6(5)
14 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (Canada) Hard R16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-2
15 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai (China) Hard F Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-4

Djokovic 2016 FastFacts
W (2): Doha (d. Nadal); Australian Open (d. Murray); QF: Dubai (l. to Lopez)
YTD W-L: 19-1 (19-1 on hard)
YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 61
Date of Birth: May 22, 1987
Emirates ATP Ranking: 1 (Career-High)
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result): 44-6 (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 Champion)

• 2016 Indian Wells: Avenged only loss of season and did not face a BP in 63 63 win over [18] Lopez in 4R
• Tournament Note: No. 1 or No. 2 in Emirates ATP Rankings each week since winning 2011 title
• Tied Emerson’s all-time record with 6th Australian Open title (d. No. 2 Murray)
• Moved into tie with Laver and Borg for 5th all-time with 11 Grand Slam men’s singles titles
• Won a 5-set match en route to title for 7th time at a major, overcoming 100 unforced errors in 4R (d. Simon)
• Captured 60th career title to start season at Doha, not dropping a set all week (d. No. 5 Nadal)
• Became 3rd active player to reach 700 wins by beating Jaziri in Dubai 2R on Feb. 24 (also Federer, Nadal)
• Fell 1 shy of Lendl’s Open-Era record 18 straight finals when eye problem forced ret in Dubai QF (l. to Lopez)
• Had not retired since 2011 Davis Cup SF vs. del Potro, a stretch of 350 matches (318-32)
• Defeated Nedovyesov in 3 sets and Kukushkin in 5 sets to help Serbia beat Kazakhstan 3-2 in Davis Cup 1R

Tsonga 2016 FastFacts
SF: Auckland (l. to Bautista Agut); QF: Buenos Aires (l. to Almagro)
YTD W-L: 10-4 (8-2 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 12
Date of Birth: April 17, 1985
Emirates ATP Ranking: 9
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result): 13-7 (2013, 2016 Quarter-finalist)

• 2016 Indian Wells: Did not face a BP in 63 64 win over [31] Querrey in 3R and 63 62 win over [11] Thiem in 4R
• Tournament Note: From 1992 to 2015, no Frenchman reached SF (Forget lost 1991 final to Courier 76 in 5th)
• Reached 2nd week of Australian Open for 7th time (l. to No. 7 Nishikori in 4R)
• Clinched France’s Davis Cup 1R win over Canada in doubles w/Gasquet (d. Bester/Pospisil)
• Squandered 1 MP in Auckland SF loss to eventual champion Bautista Agut
• Fell to World No. 338 Monteiro in Rio de Janeiro 1R – worst loss by ranking for a Top 10 player since No. 388 Olivetti beat No. 8 Fish at 2012 Marseille

FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS: Doubles Semi-final

[6] Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/Jack Sock (USA) vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Marc Lopez (ESP) First Meeting

• Pospisil/Sock defeated Qureshi/Simon 60 75 in 1R, Bellucci/Pella 63 67(6) 10-5 in 2R and Kohlschreiber/Thiem 75 63 in QF
• Canadian and American are 44-15 on ATP World Tour (5-1 in 2016)
• Reigning ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells champions (d. Bryan/Bryan in QF and Bolelli/Fognini in final)
• Became 1st duo since Hewitt/Mirnyi at 2000 US Open to capture Grand Slam title in team debut at 2014 Wimbledon (d. Bryan/Bryan 75 in 5th)
• Also won titles at 2014 Atlanta (d. Johnson/Querrey) and 2015 Beijing (d. Nestor/Roger-Vasselin)
• FedEx ATP H2H: Sock defeated Pospisil in their lone singles meeting 62 64 in 2016 Auckland 2R
• World No. 17 Pospisil is 8-1 lifetime at Indian Wells and World No. 14 Sock is 8-0
• Lopez/Lopez defeated [5] Bopanna/Mergea 26 64 10-4 in 1R, Isner/Raonic 64 75 in 2R and [4] J. Murray/Soares 67(2) 76(2) 10-8
• Spaniards (no relation) are 16-8 on ATP World Tour (11-3 in 2016)
• Champions at 2016 Doha (d. J. Murray/Soares in SF, Peya/Petzschner in final)
• Runners-up at 2004 Valencia (l. to Etlis/Rodriguez) and 2016 Dubai (l. to Bolelli/Seppi after holding 2 MPs)
• Debuted at 2001 São Paulo, BRA Challenger, losing to del Rio/Hood in 1R
• World No. 38 F. Lopez is 7-10 lifetime at Indian Wells and World No. 29 M. Lopez is 19-4, winning titles w/Nadal in 2010 (d. Nestor/Zimonjic) and 2012 (d. Isner/Querrey)

Milos Raonic is through to his second straight BNP Paribas Open semi-final after a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils on Thursday night. The No. 12 seed claimed his second match from as many meetings with the No. 13 seed this year, having also claimed the honours in their Australian Open quarter-final in January.

Neither player had lost a set en route to the quarter-finals and the big-serving Canadian ensured his run of straight-sets victories would continue until at least the semi-finals. He sent down seven aces and dropped just nine points on his first serve.

Raonic had his share of break point opportunities but only converted on three of the 13. It proved enough to advance in one hour and 30 minutes. The result denied Monfils the chance to become the first Frenchman to reach the semi-finals in Indian Wells since Guy Forget lost the 1991 final.

Raonic said a game plan against the unpredictable Frenchman required a certain amount of flexibility.

“I think you just sort of change your mentality a bit, but I don’t think the game plan for me changes,” Raonic said. “Maybe the side you approach to or what kind of stuff you expect, that’s about it.”

With the win, Raonic levelled the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series at 2-2. He will take on No. 15 seed David Goffin for a place in the Indian Wells final. The Belgian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0.

“He’s playing well,” Raonic said of Goffin. “He’s taking the ball early. He’s trying to maybe not overpower but take away time from his opponents.

“You see that he’s trying to take time away and maybe getting guys to panic and not set up their swings. But I think when it comes to that kind of stuff I’m pretty good at getting things on my terms. If he wants to stay on the baseline I’m going to have to try to push him back.”

Watch live tennis at tennistv.com. Visit BNP Paribas Open Official Website.

Unseeded Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez have denied Jamie Murray the chance to assume top spot in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings after defeating the Scot and Brazilian Bruno Soares 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 10-8 in the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals on Thursday.

Murray needed to win just one more match to take over as No. 1 from Marcelo Melo but fell short in just under two hours. The Lopez pairing hit six aces and won 81 per cent of first-serve points against the No. 4 seeds, saving five of six break points to advance.

Marc Lopez is no stranger to success in Indian Wells, having claimed the doubles title twice before (2010, 2012), both times with Rafael Nadal. Teaming with another of his countrymen, he continued his run of form in the desert to book a semi-final showdown with defending champions Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock.

The sixth seeds registered a 7-5, 6-3 result over Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany and Dominic Thiem of Austria. The Canadian-American duo was impressive on serve, claiming 87 per cent of first-serve points and 84 per cent on second serves in the one-hour, four-minute affair. They broke three times to close to within two wins of winning back-to-back BNP Paribas Open titles.

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

David Goffin just won’t take no for an answer. The industrious Belgian beat No. 10 seed Marin Cilic 7-6(4), 6-2 at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final. Goffin saved 11 of 12 break points to advance in 97 minutes.

Goffin’s journey to the final four has been far from smooth. The No. 18 in the Emirates ATP Rankings needed to save match points against NextGen star France Tiafoe in the second round, then snapped a 14-match losing streak against Top 10 players in upsetting Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5) in the fourth round. The win over Cilic was his first straight-sets win at Indian Wells this year.

Cilic, who held four set points in the opening set, fell to 0-8 in quarter-final appearances at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events.

The New York Times’ Ben Rothenberg joked that he should take some credit for Marcelo Melo’s finish atop the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings in 2015.

Last weekend, Rothenberg rejoined forces with the top-ranked doubles player, and confronted ATP Chief Player Officer Ross Hutchins and long-time tennis journalist Richard Evans for the second edition of the ATP World Tour Media Doubles Showdown.

Doubles stars and journalists teamed up on the practice courts of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, swapping partners as they competed for more than an hour under the direction of Wayne Bryan. In addition to Melo, journalists had the chance to play alongside John Peers, Fabrice Martin, Nicholas Monroe and coaches Daniel Vallverdu and Miles Maclagan. Colin Fleming also stopped by to watch the pro-am and spend time with the media.

Brandon Moglen of the Tennis Channel finished as a King of the Court last year on a team captained by Jean-Julien Rojer, and once again took first place as he and Maclagan defeated Cort Larson and Martin, 10-6, in the final. In the playoff for third place, Rothenberg and Hutchins defeated Rodrigo Azurmendi and Peers, 10-7.

“Having introduced this successfully last year, it was once again great to see the best doubles players in the world showcase their skills while interacting with the media in a different way than normal,” said ATP Chief Player Officer, Ross Hutchins. “I’m sure the media now further appreciates the skill it takes to be a successful doubles player and we look forward to having this event again in the future.”

ATP: Colin Fleming, Fabrice Martin, Marcelo Melo, Nicholas Monroe, John Peers; coaches Danny Vallverdu and Miles Maclagan; Ross Hutchins

Journalists: Brandon Moglen, Cort Larsen, Ben Rothenberg, Rodrigo Azurmendi, Andrej Antic, Ricky Dimon, Richard Evans, Jacque Fryklund, James LaRosa, Erwin Ong, Rene Stauffer, Kurt Streeter, Ros Satar, Kamakshi Tandon<

One of the all-time greats in doubles returned to the court this week in Irving as he shared the experience with his family.

Mark Knowles won an astounding 55 ATP World Tour doubles titles during his 20-year career and held the No. 1 doubles ranking on numerous occasions. The Bahamian lifted up three Grand Slam men’s doubles titles with Daniel Nestor (2002 Australian Open, 2004 US Open and 2007 French Open) and even won a Grand Slam mixed doubles title with Anna-Lena Groenefeld (2009 Wimbledon). He also represented the Bahamas in the Olympics on five different occasions before eventually concluding his illustrious career at the 2012 US Open.

But while he has no plans to return to the ATP World Tour, Knowles has made an annual tournament appearance each year in Texas. He played doubles each February at the $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Dallas from 2013-2015 and teamed up with Benjamin Becker this week at the $125,000+H event in Irving.

“My wife is from the area, so we have a house here. And this tournament is at the Four Seasons (Resort and Club at Dallas Las Colinas), where I’m the touring pro. It’s basically my home club here in Dallas,” said Knowles. “Two of my good friends are running the tournament (Brent Haygarth and Zoltan Popp) and they’re guys that I hang out with a lot here. All the pieces were in place for a fun week.”

Since retiring from the tour, the one-time globetrotter has opted for a more quiet life in the Bahamas with his wife and three children. In addition to getting his license as a real estate agent, Knowles has worked on creating tennis initiatives in the Bahamas and has even found time to coach his son’s baseball and football teams.

“My youngest son, Brody (age seven), is starting to get into tennis now. This tournament is a nice opportunity because he was a little too young to have memories of when I was playing professionally, so it’s nice to give him a taste of being around other great players,” said Knowles. “It’s an opportunity for him to relate because he’s starting to get the tennis bug a little bit.”

Knowles praised the depth of the doubles field in Irving, which also includes two other Grand Slam men’s doubles champions in Leander Paes and Philipp Petzschner. Although he acknowledged not hitting the court as frequently as he’d like, the former world No. 1 said he still intended to put in a good showing this week.

“I still go out there and practise sometimes, but it’s mostly with my seven-year-old,” jokes Knowles. “I don’t practise frequently enough to realistically be where I was once was, so it’s basically for fun now. But at the end of the day, we’re all competitors. Once I walk onto the court, I’m not expecting to lose.”

Becker and Knowles ultimately lost their opening round match on Wednesday to Jason Jung and Jakob Sude, 6-3, 6-4. But if history is any indication, we’ll likely see Knowles competing again in the Dallas area next year.