Djokovic, Nadal Set For Opening Acts

DAY 4 PREVIEW: Second round play in the top half of the draw on Sunday features two former BNP Paribas Open champions, World No. 1/four-time winner Novak Djokovic and No. 4 seed/three-time champ Rafael Nadal. Other Top 10 seeds in action are No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 9 John Isner.   

The opening match on Stadium 1 is between No. 23 seed Grigor Dimitrov and 18-year-old German Alexander Zverev, who was one of the 21 & under stars in the ATP World Tour’s Next Generation launch earlier in the week. Dimitrov won the previous meeting in three sets in the 1R of the Swiss Indoors in Basel in 2014. Zverev, one of six teenagers in the main draw, is trying to join fellow teen Borna Coric in the 3R. Dimitrov is attempting to reach the 3R for the fourth straight year

In the next match on, Mikhail Kukushkin looks for his first win against No. 5 Nishikori, who has won all five previous meetings, including two in the first two months of the season in Brisbane and Memphis. Kukushkin pushed Djokovic to five sets last weekend in a 1R Davis Cup tie in Serbia before falling 6-2 in the decisive set. He is 2-25 lifetime against Top 10 opponents. Last month Nishikori won his fourth straight Memphis Open title (d. Fritz).

In the final day session match, Djokovic brings a 16-1 match record on the season into his opening match against American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo. The defending two-time BNP Paribas Open champion (four overall) has won 11 straight matches in Indian Wells. Djokovic is trying to become the first player in tournament history to capture five titles. Federer also has won four titles. The 22-year-old Fratangelo is ranked No. 149 and he won his first career ATP World Tour match (1-3) over Russian Teymuraz Gabashviili on Friday.

In the evening session, Nadal squares off with fellow left-hander Gilles Muller of Luxembourg for the fifth time (Nadal leads 3-1). In their last meeting, also the only time they met on hard courts, the Spaniard won 76 61 62 in the 4R of the US Open in 2011. Muller posted his first career Top 10 win in a Grand Slam tournament over Nadal in the 2R at Wimbledon in 2005.

On Stadium 2, there are three Frenchmen on the schedule: Tsonga vs. qualifier Vincent Millot and No. 16 seed Gilles Simon against Canadian No. 2 Vasek Pospisil. In the final match on, top American John Isner brings a 2-1 career head-to-head record against Italian Andreas Seppi. Isner won the only previous hard court meeting in five sets at the Australian Open in 2010.

On Stadium 3, three Americans are among the four matches. Leading off the order of play is No. 11 seed Dominic Thiem, who leads the ATP World Tour with 20 match wins on the season. The 22-year-old Austrian takes on Slovak qualifier Jozef Kovalik for the first time on the ATP World Tour. The trio of Americans to follow are: Denis Kudla vs. top German/No. 27 Philipp Kohlschreiber, No. 21 seed Jack Sock vs. German qualifier Michael Berrer and No. 30 Steve Johnson vs. Aussie John Millman.

DAY 4 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS ON STADIUM 1

[23] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Alexander Zverev (GER) – Dimitrov Leads 1-0

Dimitrov 2016 FastFacts:
F: Sydney (l Troicki); SF: Delray Beach (l Ram); QF(2): Brisbane (l Federer); Acapulco (l Thiem)
YTD W-L: 12-5 (12-5 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: May 16, 1991
Emirates ATP Ranking: 26
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-4 (3R – 2013-14-15)

• The 24-year-old Bulgarian is making his 5th straight Indian Wells appearance and looking to extend streak of winning opening match to 5 years in a row. Made debut in 2012 (d. Dodig, l. to No. 5 Ferrer in 2R) and last 3 years advanced to 3R after a bye. In 2013 (d. Ebden, l. to No. 1 Djokovic), 2014 (d. Haase, l. to No. 22 Gulbis) and last year (d. Kyrgios, l. to No. 19 Robredo). All 4 losses have come to Top 25 opponents
• Comes in with a 12-5 match record. Held 1 MP in Sydney final before falling to Troicki 76 in 3rd set
• Advanced to SFs at Delray Beach (l. to Ram) and QFs at Brisbane (l. to No. 3 Federer) and Acapulco (         (l. to eventual champion Thiem)
• Reached Australian Open 3R (l. to No. 3 Federer)
• Has won 2+ matches at all 5 tournaments during 1st 2 months of 2016 season

Zverev 2016 FastFacts:
SF: Montpellier (l Mathieu); QF: Rotterdam (l Monfils)
YTD W-L: 7-6 (7-6 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: April 20, 1997
Emirates ATP Ranking: 58
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year):1-0 (2R – 2016)

• The 18-year-old German made his main draw debut on Friday, rallying past Ivan Dodig 36 75 63. Saved all 3 break pts. faced and won 11 of 12 1st serve pts. in 3rd set vs Dodig. Last year came in ranked No. 136 and lost in 1R qualifying to Michael Russell in three sets
• Last month reached 3rd ATP singles SF at Montpellier (d. Vanni in 1R after saving 1 MP, l. to Mathieu)
• Win over No. 13 Cilic in Montpellier 2R is biggest of career by ranking
• Achieved career-high No. 56 in Emirates ATP Rankings on February 15
• Advanced to Rotterdam QF (d. Simon 76 in 3rd, l. to Monfils)
• Fell to eventual finalist Murray in 1R of Australian Open debut
• Appeared in 2nd ATP doubles final with older brother Mischa at Montpellier (l. to Pavic/Venus)
• In Davis Cup debut, fell to No. 7 Berdych in 4h, 20m and Rosol in deciding rubber (CZE d. GER 3-2)

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs [5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) – Nishikori Leads 5-0

Kukushkin 2016 FastFacts:
QF: Memphis (l Nishikori)
YTD W-L: 6-7 (6-7 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: December 26, 1987
Emirates ATP Ranking: 90
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 3-3 (3R – 2014)

• The 28-year-old Kazakhstan No. 1 evened his career record at 3-3 on Friday with a 76(1) 62 win over Spaniard Daniel Munoz de la Nava, saving 7 of 9 break points (all 4 in 2nd set). Trying to reach 3R for second time. In 2014 defeated Groth, Pospisil (l. to Lopez 6-4 in 3rd set)
• Best result of season is QF at Memphis (d. Vanni and Kudla, l. to No. 7 eventual winner Nishikori)
• Defeated Troicki and led No. 1 Djokovic 2 sets to 1 before falling in 5 sets during Davis Cup 1R (SRB d. KAZ 3-2)
• Qualified at Sydney with wins over both Reid and Cervantes 76 in 3rd (l. to Chardy in 1R)
• Suffered 4th straight Australian Open 1R loss (l. to Sousa)
• Retired vs. Young in Delray Beach 1R and conceded walkover in doubles QF w/Marchenko vs. Bryan/Bryan due to left leg injury
• Has a 2-25 career record vs. Top 10 opponents and looking to break eight-match losing streak since win over No. 4 Wawrinka in 1R of Basel in October 2014

Nishikori 2016 FastFacts:
W: Memphis (d Fritz); QF(2): Brisbane (l Tomic); Australian Open (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 11-4 (11-4 on hard)
YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 11
Date of Birth: December 29, 1989
Emirates ATP Ranking: 6
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-7 (4R – 2015)

• The 26-year-old Japanese star is making his 8th appearance in 9 years (except 2010) and has a 4-7 record, the only Top 8 seed with a losing record
• Began with an 0-4 record before winning first match in 2013 (d. Petzschner after bye, l. to Berlocq in 3R). Followed with 3R in 2014 (d. Giraldo after bye, l. to Haas) and last year turned in his best result, 4R (d. Harrison, Verdasco after bye, l. to Lopez)
• In February,earned 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 [Q] Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) – First Meeting

Djokovic 2016 FastFacts:
W(2): Doha (d Nadal); Australian Open (d Murray); QF: Dubai (l Lopez)
YTD W-L: 16-1 (16-1 on hard)
YTD Titles: 2 / Career Titles: 61
Date of Birth: May 22, 1987
Emirates ATP Ranking: 1
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 41-6 (Winner – 2008, ’11, ’14-15)

• The 28-year-old Serb is making his 11th straight appearance in Indian Wells and comes in with a 41-6 career match record. Has won his last 11 matches in Indian Wells since losing to del Potro 46 64 64 in the semi-finals in 2013
• Last year defeated No. 4 Murray (SF) and No. 2 Federer (F) to win his record-tying fourth Indian Wells title (along with Federer). In 2014, beat Federer in third-set tie-break in final after SF showings in 2012 (l. to Isner) and ’13 (l. to del Potro)
• Won first title in 2008 (d. Fish) and second title in 2011 (d. Nadal) while reaching final in 2007 (l. to Nadal) in second appearance
• Captured 60th career title to start season at Doha, not dropping a set all week (d. No. 5 Nadal)
• Then 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)
• 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 retirement 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

Fratangelo 2016 FastFacts:
YTD W-L: 1-1 (1-1 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 19, 1993
Emirates ATP Ranking: 149
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 1-0 (2R – 2016)

• The 22-year-old American qualified into main draw with a pair of straight-set wins and on Friday beat top Russian/No. 48 Teymuraz Gabashvili 64 64 for first career ATP World Tour match win (1-3). Never faced break point and served well, winning 80% of 1st serve pts. & 81% of 2nd serve pts. Last year lost in 2R of qualifying to Coric in third set tie-break
• One of five Americans to qualify into main draw this year (most since 2009). Harrison also reached 2R
• Made Australian Open debut as LL (l. to Robert 62 62 62 in 1R)
• Fell in final round of qualifying at Memphis (l. to Mmoh 76 in 3rd) and Delray Beach (l. to Ito 64 in 3rd)
• Owns 1-3 record at Challengers, posting lone win at Dallas, USA (d. Donaldson, l. to Evans in 2R)

[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Gilles Muller (LUX) – Nadal Leads 3-1

Nadal 2016 FastFacts:
F: Doha (l Djokovic); SF(2): Buenos Aires (l Thiem); Rio de Janeiro (l Cuevas)
YTD W-L: 8-4 (4-2 on hard, 4-2 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 67
Date of Birth: June 3, 1986
Emirates ATP Ranking: 5
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 44-8 (Winner- 2007, ’09, ‘13)

• The 29-year-old Mallorcan native is making his 11th straight appearance (12th overall) in Indian Wells and enters with a 44-8 career record. Reached the SFs or better eight straight years from 2006-13. Comes into Indian Wells ranked in Top 5 for 11th consecutive year
• The three-time champion (2007, ’09, ’13) also was runner-up in 2011 (l. to Djokovic) and SF four other times, in 2006 (l. to Blake), ’08 (l. to Djokovic), ’10 (l. to Ljubicic) and ’12 (l. to Federer)
• Since winning his last title three years ago (d. del Potro), lost in 3R in 2014 (l. to Dolgopolov) and QF last year (l. to Raonic)
• Has a 19-6 record in doubles, winning titles in 2010 and ’12 (w/M. Lopez)
•  In opening week of season, reached 99th career final 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
• Has a 76-13 career record vs. left-handers

Muller 2016 FastFacts:
SF(2): Sydney (l Dimitrov); Sofia (l Bautista Agut)
YTD W-L: 10-6 (10-6 on hard)
YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 9, 1983
Emirates ATP Ranking: 45
Indian Wells W-L (Best Result-Year): 4-5 (3R – 2005)

• The 32-year-old Luxembourg native is playing in Indian Wells for 6th time and opened on Friday hitting 16 aces in a 75 63 win over Victor Estrella Burgos. His best result came in 2005 debut when he reached 3R (d. Lisnard, Stepanek, l. to No. 1 Federer). Also 2R in 2012 (d. Tomic, l. to No. 10 Tipsarevic). Last year lost in opening match (after bye, l. to Sock in third set TB)
• Advanced to SFs at Sydney (d. Thiem in 2R, l. to Dimitrov) and Sofia (l. to Bautista Agut)
• Lost last 7 SF matches since run to 2012 Atlanta final (d. Soeda, l. to Roddick)
• Fell to Millman 46 64 62 46 75 in Australian Open 2R
• Has a 7-31 career record vs. Top 10 opponents and his first of 3 wins in Grand Slam play came over No. 3 Nadal at Wimbledon 2R in 2005