Dominic Thiem’s clay-court credentials are well proven but that only makes the gifted Austrian hungrier for greater success on other surfaces. The 24-year-old is no one-surface specialist and has high hopes of making a statement at this year’s BNP Paribas Open where he returns as the No. 5 seed.

Last year Thiem fell in a gripping quarter-final to Stan Wawrinka, an opponent who holds two hard court Grand Slam titles to his name. Only last week, he went down to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals at Acapulco.

It was there in Mexico he won his lone prior hard-court trophy to date, in 2016. Could Indian Wells deliver his next hard-court breakthrough?

“I’m always trying to make some changes to play better on hard courts,” Thiem said. “I’ve played three tournaments on hard courts [this year]. Doha was fine, Australia was also fine. Acapulco I lost to del Potro who won the tournament so I think I’m [heading] in the right direction.”

Despite a handful of big names missing from this year’s BNP Paribas Open draw Thiem does not see a vacuum waiting to be filled. Not does he see it as an easier path to success.

“More and more there are some big names coming up also, some young good players,” Thiem said. “Del Potro is back too. He’s a big name again which he maybe wasn’t last year. Even though many big players are out there are some new ones taking their spots so I don’t think it’s much easier to go deep than it was [in previous] years.”

One such young player coming up is #NextGen ATP Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas, Thiem’s second round opponent.

“I played him in Doha and was quite impressed actually,” Thiem said. “I’d never seen him before or practised with him before. I think he definitely has potential for Top 20, for sure. I think it’s also nice to have someone from Greece, I think the first real top player from that country. I think he’s going to be good.”

Kevin Anderson knows that no matter how many years you have played tennis, you never stop learning. After 10 years as a professional and close to 500 matches, the hard-working South African remains a student of the game.

Three weeks on from working his way back into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, the 31-year-old is set to compete at the BNP Paribas Open, where he reached the quarter-finals in 2013 and 2014.

“I need to trust my game and trust the process,” said Anderson. “It’s something I’m still working on. I’m trying to allow myself to be more free on the court and really trust my abilities. It’s something you have to do.

“When you first come on Tour, and play guys you’ve seen on TV, you almost feel like your game is not as good as a [Rafael] Nadal or a [Roger] Federer. But I’m now at a stage where I can play my best tennis, when it matters the most. It comes from experience, but I’m still learning and improving.”

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At Indian Wells this week, 6’8” Anderson will be found on a practice court training for hours on end. Fine turning his game, centred on a serve that has fired down 5,837 aces since he turned professional in 2007.

“Bigger guys do seem to have a pretty big advantage on serve, because of the ability to find better angles, where you can hit and the pace you can generate,” said Anderson. “Now some of the bigger guys are matching the physicality.

“The challenges I face come down to movement and balance. It can be used in an advantageous way, covering the court with fewer strides. I learned to play tennis from the baseline, so my movement is better there, but I do also work very hard in coming forward.”

Having spent one week in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings (at No. 10) on 12 October 2015, injuries and time off the ATP World Tour saw him drop to as low as No. 80 on 16 January 2017. But now back in the Top 10, Anderson is competing with confidence once more.

On U.S. soil, his home for the past decade, he has reached nine of his 16 tour-level finals. Over the course of the next 11 days, he will attempt to break his 0-8 record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-finals. First up though, seventh seed Anderson will play a Russian, Karen Khachanov or Evgeny Donskoy, in Indian Wells.