Two years ago, the ATP World Tour launched its “Next Generation” campaign on the eve of the 2016 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to celebrate the game’s plethora of 21-and-under players climbing the ATP Rankings.

Two years later, some of the faces have changed, but the theme remains the same: The ATP World Tour has plenty of up-and-coming stars. Five of those #NextGenATP players – Russian Andrey Rublev, Aussie Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Americans Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka – took time out of their day on Tuesday to talk to fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden about life on tour and their career aspirations.

Read More: Five Must-See First Rounds In Indian Wells 

Of the five, the 20-year-old Rublev has experienced the most success so far. The 6’2” right-hander won his maiden ATP World Tour title last year in Umag and later reached the quarter-finals of the US Open (l. to Nadal). Rublev also finished runner-up at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, which welcomed eight of the best 21-and-under players in the world.

This season, Rublev has already reached a final, falling to Gael Monfils at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha during week one. Rublev, the 27^th seed in Indian Wells, will be making his main-draw debut at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

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“I’m really excited, and I hope I can show a really great game,” he said. “All the ATP [World] Tour is really tough tournaments and the players are playing amazing and you have to be ready 500 per cent to compete every day, but I’m really grateful to be here and to be part of this.”

De Minaur certainly had the hottest start to the 2018 ATP World Tour season of the #NextGenATP group. The Aussie reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp and his maiden ATP World Tour final at the Sydney International. The 19-year-old counts countryman and former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt as a mentor.

Read More: Belief, Hewitt’s Advice, Propel de Minaur To Early Success

“It’s unbelievable. I’m extremely grateful. He’s pretty much told me to believe in myself, to leave it all out there on the court every time I step out on it, and just give it my all. That’s what I’m trying to do every day,” de Minaur said.

The right-hander received a wild card into the main draw and will meet German Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.

The #NextGenATP players had to laugh when they heard who Fritz and Opelka would be playing in their Indian Wells openers: each other. It will be their first tour-level meeting, and it comes at a time when both have been raising their level.

The 20-year-old Opelka picked up his first Top 10 win two weeks ago at the Delray Beach Open against U.S. No. 1 Jack Sock. “It was good for me to get some more wins on the tour level. It was a pretty tough week. I had to play [Ryan] Harrison first round, Sock, so fellow Americans, which is never comfortable. It’s definitely given me a lot of confidence,” Opelka said.

Read Draw Preview: Federer, Djokovic Chasing History

Fritz has also upped his game. The American won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Newport Beach in January, and last month, the right-hander upset No. 12 Sam Querrey of the U.S. en route to the Delray Beach Open quarter-finals.

“I’ve found a bit of consistency on tour, and I’m looking to push it to the next level,” Fritz said.

Watch Fritz’s My Story

Tsitsipas, like Rublev, is also in new territory: The 19-year-old Greek has reached a career-high No. 71 in the ATP Rankings and is set to make his BNP Paribas Open debut. Tsitsipas narrowly missed qualifying for the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, but he still attended the event as an alternate and played an exhibition match in Milan.

Read & Watch: 18 #NextGenATP To Watch In 2018

“I was grateful I had the opportunity to be there,” Tsitsipas said. “I left with some really positive vibes from Milan.”

The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals will take place 6-10 November in Milan. Eligible players must be 21-and-under (born 1997 or later). The top seven players in the season-long ATP Race To Milan will qualify along with a wild-card recipient.

See Who’s Leading The ATP Race To Milan

With the Top 32 seeds having a bye, the focus is on a host of tantalising first-round showdowns at the BNP Paribas Open. 

Frances Tiafoe v Ernesto Escobedo
Fresh from his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Delray Beach Open, #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe will carry an abundance of confidence into his first FedExATP Head2Head meeting with 21-year-old countryman Ernesto Escobedo. The pair has clashed twice before at ATP Challenger Tour level, with Escobedo winning both in a third-set tie-break. However, both matches were in 2016 and Tiafoe has since surged up the ATP Rankings to No. 64, with Escobedo currently at No. 117. The 20-year-old Tiafoe defeated #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov, Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung and his childhood idol Juan Martin del Potro en route to the Delray Beach Open title while Escobedo scored an impressive win over American No. 1 Jack Sock in the opening round in Acapulco last week. Spanish 28th seed Feliciano Lopez awaits the winner in the second round.

Gael Monfils v Matthew Ebden
Enigmatic former World No. 6 Gael Monfils has already tasted hard-court success in 2018 when he collected the trophy in the season-opening Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. The 31-year-old, currently at No. 42 in the ATP Rankings, has reached the quarter-finals in Indian Wells once before – in 2016, before he fell to Milos Raonic. His lone win over Matthew Ebden was on hard court at the Australian Open but that was eight years ago. The 78th-ranked Australian will be quietly confident after upsetting Sam Querrey, the defending champion, in Acapulco in the first round last week. He also counts a win in 2018 over John Isner in the opening round of his home Grand Slam tournament. Should Ebden beat Monfils he would earn a shot at beating Isner for a second time in 2018 in round two.

Taylor Fritz v Reilly Opelka
Twelve months ago, Taylor Fritz pulled off his first victory over a Top 10 opponent in the ATP Rankings when he brought down No. 6 seed Marin Cilic en route to the third round at the BNP Paribas Open. In a battle of 20-year-old #NextGenATP Americans, the 74th-ranked Fritz will open his 2018 campaign in the desert against Reilly Opelka. This will be their first FedExATP Head2Head encounter, however, Fritz did beat his 199th-ranked compatriot en route to the Newport Beach Challenger title on hard court in January, his first Challenger title in two years. Fritz earned a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open after his Challenger title run at Newport Beach and a semi-final run at the Indian Wells Challenger event leading in. Opelka impressed against his countrymen last week at the Delray Beach Open where he took down Ryan Harrison and Sock to reach the quarter-finals. The winner will take on No. 27 seed Andrey Rublev in the second round.

Borna Coric v Donald Young
A semi-finalist at last year’s inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Croatia’s Borna Coric arrives at Indian Wells having reached two quarter-finals on hard courts already in 2018 – last week in Dubai where he fell to eventual champion Roberto Bautista Agut and in January in Doha where Rublev had his number. In between, the World No. 49 in the ATP Rankings easily accounted for Shapovalov in a Davis Cup tie at home. In two prior FedExATP Head2Head meetings with American World No. 99, Donald Young, Coric has emerged victorious. The left-handed Young had his best run at the BNP Paribas Open last year when he defeated Sam Querrey and Lucas Pouille en route to a fourth-round defeat to Kei Nishikori. Victory will stamp a second-round clash with No. 19 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Stefanos Tsitsipas v Radu Albot
Greece’s NextGenATP charge, Stefanos Tsitsipas, enters his first-round BNP Paribas Open match with Radu Albot at a career-best No. 71 in the ATP Rankings. The 19-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Doha to open his season where he won through qualifying before bowing to Dominic Thiem. Last week, he beat No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber en route to the quarter-finals in Dubai. Tsitsipas scored his biggest win over home favourite David Goffin to reach his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final in October in Antwerp. He has never met the 88th-ranked Albot. The Moldovan scored his first Top 20 win over Isner before Nishikori ended his run in three sets in the New York Open quarter-finals last month. The winner will face fifth seed Thiem for a place in the third round.

In less than two weeks, the BNP Paribas Open could have an outright all-time greatest champion. But which five-time champion will perform better this fortnight: Roger Federer (2004-06, 2012, 2017) or Novak Djokovic (2008, 2011, 2014-16)? This could well be determined on the final Sunday of the season’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

Federer and Djokovic have been drawn in opposite halves of the 96-player tournament, which begins on Thursday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, U.S.A.

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But neither all-time great will have an easy path in the desert, including Federer, despite his perfect start. The World No. 1 is 12-0 on the season, having won both tournaments he’s contested – the Australian Open, his 20^th Grand Slam title, and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, his 97^th tour-level crown, which pushed him back to No. 1 for the first time since 4 November 2012.

After a first-round bye, Federer could meet American Ryan Harrison (2-0) or Federico Delbonis of Argentina (0-1) in the second round, with 2017 Rolex Paris Masters finalist Filip Krajinovic of Serbia possibly waiting in the third round. Brasil Open champion Fabio Fognini, always a tricky opponent, or 20^th seed Adrian Mannarino of France will be the favourites to face Federer in the fourth round.

The Swiss’ path could get plenty interesting in the quarter-finals. If the seeds hold, either fifth seed Dominic Thiem, who won the Argentina Open last month, or 12^th-seeded Tomas Berdych could be Federer’s quarter-final opponents. Berdych has beaten Federer six times, including five on hard courts, but trails in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 6-20.

Miss some of the day’s action? Read below to catch up on our #ATPMasters1000 Live Blog!

Berdych, however, might have to first squeeze past 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung in the third round. The South Korean has given nearly everyone in tennis trouble in 2018. The 21-year-old knocked out Alexander Zverev and Djokovic en route to his maiden Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne.

Third seed Grigor Dimitrov will be favoured to face Federer in the semi-finals, in what would be a rematch of their Rotterdam final. But also lingering is Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC finalist Kevin Anderson; 17^th seed Nick Kyrgios, who reached the quarter-finals here last year (w/o vs. Federer); and 27^th seed Andrey Rublev, who might face Dimitrov in the third round. The occasion would be their fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting since the 2017 US Open (Dimitrov leads 2-1).

The Past 10 Indian Wells Champions

Djokovic, with an unfamiliar double-digit seed (10) next to his name, will meet a qualifier and, in the third round, possibly Kei Nishikori, another former Top 5 player on the comeback trail (wrist surgery). Djokovic has won 11 of their 13 FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups.

Should Djokovic prevail, fans could see a rematch of a third-round tilt from a year ago in Indian Wells. The Serbian might again meet the surging Juan Martin del Potro, who’s fresh off his 21^st tour-level title in Acapulco on Saturday (d. Anderson). Djokovic won their 2017 contest in Indian Wells and leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 14-4.

But let’s not forget about Marin Cilic, the second seed who pushed Federer to five sets in the Australian Open final. Djokovic, Nishikori and Del Potro – they are all living in Cilic’s quarter. The Croatian could meet Philipp Kohlschreiber and then 15^th seed John Isner or 24^th seed Gilles Muller before a potential matchup against Djokovic, Nishikori or Del Potro.

Two-time Masters 1000 champion Alexander Zverev (2017 Rome, 2017 Montreal) will be the favourite to emerge from the other quarter in the bottom half. His path to the quarter-finals features possibly Milos Raonic and then either Rio champion Diego Schwartzman, the 14^th seed, or Australian Open semi-finalist Kyle Edmund, the 21^st seed.

Eighth seed Jack Sock, who reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells last year, is projected to meet Zverev in the quarter-finals. But such a showing would mark a turnaround for Sock. He has started the year only 1-4.

World No. 1 Roger Federer will soon begin his quest for a fourth ‘Sunshine Double’ at the of 36. The March title feat requires ATP World Tour stars to make big adjustments in order to master the dry, thinner desert air of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the humidity and windy conditions of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Seven players, since the ATP World Tour’s top tier Masters 1000 events were established in 1990, have lifted the Indian Wells and Miami titles back-to-back — Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Rios (1998), Andre Agassi (2001), Federer (2005-06, 2017) and Novak Djokovic (2011 and 2014-16). In Federer’s three ‘Sunshine Double’ years, he finished the season at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings on two occasions (2005-06) and at No. 2 in 2017.

Federer’s game has historically hit top gear on the west and east coasts of the United States, going 57-11, with five titles (2004-06, 2012 and 2017) in Indian Wells, and 50-13, with three titles (2005-06, 2017) in Miami. With a 350-99 overall match wins tally at Masters 1000 tournaments, his 107-24 combined mark at March’s two events showcases his ability to adapt to the conditions.

Twelve months ago, on the eve of Indian Wells, Federer had an 8-1 season mark. He beat fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the 2017 Indian Wells final and subsequently went on to complete a third ‘Sunshine Double’ with victory over Nadal in the Miami final. Federer has started 2018 in fine form, once again, and is 12 matches unbeaten, following trophies at the Australian Open (d. Cilic) and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (d. Dimitrov).

Watch 2017 Indian Wells Final Highlights

His dominance on hard courts since the start of 2017, as noted in a recent FedEx ATP Performance Zone analysis, sees Federer at 52-4 (92.9 per cent), with seven of his nine trophies on the surface. So Federer starts as the favourite to capture his sixth Indian Wells crown, which would represent his 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. Only Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (30) have won more.

But as the oldest No. 1 in ATP Rankings history (since 1973), the Swiss superstar will first look to add to his current 305 weeks in the top spot with a semi-final showing in the Californian desert. If he loses earlier than the semi-finals, Nadal would regain No. 1. View Federer’s ATP Rankings Breakdown

Federer’s five title runs in Indian Wells have all paved the way for a Top 2 finish in the year-end ATP Rankings, but he has only once before come into the Masters 1000 tournament unbeaten. In 2007, Federer was also a perfect 12-0 on his arrival in California, but he lost in the Indian Wells opening round to Guillermo Canas. Will 2018 be different? His performances this month may well help improve his chances of a sixth year-end No. 1 finish (2004-07, ’09).

FEDERER’S INDIAN WELLS TITLE-WINNING SEASONS