Dominic Thiem is perhaps best known for his clay-court prowess, but he’s ready to be recognised for his hard-court results as well.

The Austrian, seeded seventh this year at the BNP Paribas Open, has brought former World No. 9 and two-time Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu into his team. The pair first connected at the end of January during the Davis Cup tie between Austria and Chile, then met again in Buenos Aires during the Argentina Open. Thiem and Massu will work together in Indian Wells and at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“There are many things he can bring to my game,” said Thiem. “He preferred playing on clay, but his biggest success came on a fast hard court at the (2004 Athens) Olympics. He knows what it means to feel at home on clay, but transfer good results to a hard court. That’s one of the things we expect from the relationship.”

Thiem arrived in Indian Wells 11 days ago and said he feels ready to go for his first match on Saturday against Jordan Thompson of Australia. The hard courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden play at a relatively slower speed that suits Thiem’s game and he’s aware that a big fortnight in the desert could shape the rest of his season.

“If I had a deep run here, it would mean almost the same as if I had a deep run at the Nitto ATP Finals,” said Thiem. “I like the conditions here and feel I’ve always played quite well on these courts ever since I first came here in 2014. I’ve had really good practise and preparation, but I will see how it’s going in matches.”

Thiem’s results at the end of 2018 proved he can excel on this surface. He won the St. Petersburg Open (d. Klizan), reached the semi-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters and won a match at the Nitto ATP Finals against Kei Nishikori. It’s a trend he looks to continue into this year and beyond.

“I had a really good finish to last season on the hard courts,” said Thiem. “I finally achieved some of the goals I set for myself on this surface like moving closer to the baseline, serving better and returning better. I’ll try to continue the good results.”

Novak Djokovic is a confident champion, a winner of 32 ATP Masters 1000 titles, including a record five BNP Paribas Opens. But even the Serbian didn’t predict his historic 2018 comeback that reached a low point here in Indian Wells 12 months ago.

Djokovic underwent surgery on his right elbow in early February. He arrived at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden anxious to play, despite his team telling him to rest. He then proceeded to endure one of his worst losses, by ATP ranking, in the past eight years: a 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1 defeat to then-No. 109 Taro Daniel.

“I definitely wasn’t ready to compete at this level last year. I was kind of convincing myself that I was, but I truly wasn’t. I know most of my team members at the time were against me playing in Indian Wells and Miami because it was too early after the surgery,” Djokovic said on Thursday during his pre-tournament press conference.

But what happened next didn’t surprise him. He rehabbed his elbow and recovered his game, winning two ATP Masters 1000 titles (Cincinnati and Shanghai) and two Grand Slams (Wimbledon, US Open) and becoming the first player to achieve the Career Golden Masters. His season-low ranking of No. 22 is the lowest any player has been ranked in the same season they finished year-end No. 1.

“It was quite a journey in the last 12 months,” Djokovic said. “I don’t regret [playing in Indian Wells and Miami]. I think maybe from this perspective, I could have, should have made a different decision, but I believe it also taught me some valuable lessons that helped me to create amazing results in the next seven, eight months and get from 22 in the world to No. 1 in the world in less than six months.

“I did go through doubtful moments and questioning everything and experiencing a surgery for the first time in my life was something that I’ve never experienced before. I didn’t know what to expect. I just had to acquaint myself with the new sensations, mental, physical, emotional, and it was all a great learning curve for me.”

The learning phase, however, ended months ago, and Djokovic heads to Indian Wells in search of more ATP Tour history. He and Roger Federer share the record for most titles at the season’s first Masters 1000 event (five).

Watch: Djokovic Prepares For Indian Wells With Practice Session With Wawrinka

The Serbian will be playing for the first time since winning his 15^th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on 27 January. He faces the winner of American Bjorn Fratangelo and Elias Ymer of Sweden.

In the third round, Djokovic could meet the winner of Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber and Aussie Nick Kyrgios, last week’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC champion.

Kyrgios beat No. 2 Rafael Nadal, former No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, No. 9 John Isner and No. 3 Alexander Zverev for his biggest title since October 2016. Djokovic is 0-2 against Kyrgios in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a straight-sets loss in Indian Wells two years ago.

“We’ve always been aware of his qualities and talent, and he’s got big weapons in his game: serve, obviously one of the best serves on the Tour; big forehand and can play well on different surfaces. It’s just whether he’s consistent or not, so that’s what we’re going to see,” Djokovic said.

“I lost to him both times that I played against him. If I get a chance to play against him… I’ll look forward to that because he’s in-form. On the other hand, I started the season very well. I hope I can restart here where I stopped in Australia.”

Chris Kermode’s tenure as ATP Executive Chairman & President will not extend beyond his current term which expires at the end 2019, the ATP announced on Thursday.

Kermode became ATP Executive Chairman & President at the beginning of 2014. His six-year tenure at the helm of the ATP has seen record prize money and commercial growth for the organisation, while attendance and viewership of the ATP Tour has soared.

Kermode’s vision and leadership since 2014 has been instrumental in the creation of landmark new ATP events such as the award-winning Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, as well as the upcoming ATP Cup in 2020 in partnership with Tennis Australia.  He has overseen the remarkable success of the Nitto ATP Finals in London since 2009 and has also played a critical role in forging some of the biggest sponsorships in the sport, such as the ATP Premier Partnership with Emirates since 2015.

“It’s been a privilege to serve as ATP Executive Chairman & President since 2014 and I’m very proud of what we have achieved during this time. I would like to thank everyone at the ATP, and all the players and tournaments for the support over the years. I remain fully dedicated to the role for the remainder of my term and wish the organisation every success in the future.”

1. 30 Years of ATP Masters 1000s: The 2019 BNP Paribas Open ushers in the 30th year of ATP Masters 1000 tennis. Indian Wells is the first of nine elite events each year that unite the top players in the ATP Rankings. It is also one of seven ATP Masters 1000 events that have been part of the series since its start in 1990. The other originals are Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati and Paris.

2. Back at his Best: Last year in Indian Wells, Novak Djokovic lost his opener to 109th-ranked qualifier Taro Daniel. What a different a year makes. Djokovic returns as the World No. 1 and champion of the past three Grand Slam tournaments and two of the last three ATP Masters 1000 events. Djokovic has not played since winning his seventh Australian Open title on 27 January.

View ATP Tour Media Notes For Indian Wells

3. Roger’s Records: Djokovic and Roger Federer are tied for the most BNP Paribas Open titles with five. Federer held three championship points to make it six before losing to Juan Martin del Potro in 2018. Recent memories are fonder for the Swiss, who on 2 March won his 100th tour-level title of his career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Federer has defeated 50 different opponents for his 100 titles – 25 of whom are now retired.

4. Semi-Fedal: Rafael Nadal is also a five-time BNP Paribas Open champion with three singles and two doubles titles. Nadal and Federer are playing at the same ATP Tour event for the first time since the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals. Federer is on a five-match win streak against Nadal, including a 6-2, 6-3 victory at 2017 Indian Wells. The living legends could meet in the semi-finals on 16 March.

5. Historic Start: Stefanos Tsitsipas is 15-5 to begin the 2019 season, highlighted by a win over Federer en route to the Australian Open semi-finals and his second ATP Tour title at the Open 13 Provence (d. Kukushkin). Tsitsipas, 20, became the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since Djokovic, 20, at the 2007 US Open. Though he fell to Federer in the Dubai final, Tsitsipas became the first Greek to break into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on 4 March.

6. Best of Next: Three #NextGenATP players are seeded in Indian Wells: No. 9 Tsitsipas, No. 23 Alex de Minaur and No. 24 Denis Shapovalov. All three youngsters won their BNP Paribas Open main draw debut in 2018. Australian Open quarter-finalist Frances Tiafoe is also in the field.

7. Nick of Time: Nick Kyrgios went 10-10 in his past 20 matches entering the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC last week, where he saved three match points against Nadal and earned three Top-10 wins for the Acapulco title. Kyrgios could meet Djokovic in the third round after beating him in Acapulco and Indian Wells two years ago.

8. On the Rise: Like Kyrgios and Tsitsipas, Gael Monfils is in good form as he seeks his first ATP Masters 1000 title. Monfils is 11-2 since 5 February, highlighted by the second ATP 500 title of his career at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. The 32-year-old Frenchman also reached semi-finals at the Sofia Open and Dubai.

9. Wild Cards: Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere and runner-up Felix Auger-Aliassime earned wild cards. Djere beat the #NextGenATP player Auger-Aliassime again at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo on 1 March. He is seeded 30th and ranked a career-high 32nd, while Auger-Aliassime is a career-high 58th.

10. Doubles Debuts: The Indian Wells doubles field features eight year-end Top 10 teams and seven duos making their debut. Djokovic and Fabio Fognini are among the first-time teams and will face fellow debutants Jeremy Chardy and Milos Raonic in the opening round. Tsitsipas is also doing double duty, joining forces for the first time with 46th-ranked doubles specialist Wesley Koolhof.