One of the best tournaments in the world will continue to improve, as Tournament Director Tommy Haas has announced a full-scale beautification project ahead of the 2018 BNP Paribas Open. This year, the event won Tournament of the Year honours along with Acapulco and Doha at the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët and Chandon.

“Year after year, we strive to continually improve and enhance the overall fan experience at the tournament,” Haas said. “This year, we are focusing on what makes our event unique – the unparalleled beauty and scenery of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Our team cannot wait to welcome tennis fans from around the world to tennis paradise and showcase the physical beauty and majesty of the venue in ‘Full Bloom’ like never before.”

Indian Wells will add 62 palm trees, two fountains, floral installations, pavers, plants and greenery throughout the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The tournament will also be more than doubling the size of the Stadium 1 video walls on the north and south sides of the court. 

It was also recently announced that the 2017 BNP Paribas Open generated an estimated total gross economic impact on the Coachella Valley regional economy of over $406 million. 

The first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season will take place from 8-18 March, with Roger Federer attempting to retain his title. In 2017, the ninth seed captured the trophy without dropping a set, including victories over the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka.

“We believe that coupled with the extensive renovations and world-class dining amenities added prior to the 2017 event, tennis fans won’t be able to find a more enjoyable experience anywhere in the world,” Haas said.

It’s normally the return, but this season it was the serve that carried Rafael Nadal back to the pinnacle of our sport. Nadal finished 2017 as World No. 1 for the fourth time in his career. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of his service patterns reveals a key change that took him from personal worst-to-first marks from 2016 to 2017.

The Spaniard finished first on tour with second serve points won this season at 61.5 per cent (1076/1749), recording his personal best in this specific metric since emerging onto the tour in 2003. It’s a remarkable improvement, considering he won a career low (tied with 2004) 54 per cent in 2016.

Nadal’s second serve dominance in 2017 came from mixing it around the service box much more than normal, especially in the deuce court. The strategy was specifically to surprise opponents by serving to their stronger forehand return, and also catch them sliding left anticipating a serve to the backhand. The serve went right a whole lot more this year, and it worked a treat.

Masters 1000 & Nitto ATP Finals
Deuce Court Second Serve Location – 2016 & 2017

For example, at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and the Nitto ATP Finals this season, Nadal hit 86 second serves out wide in the deuce court. Last season, he attempted only four to the same location.

Masters 1000 & Nitto ATP Finals
Deuce Court Second Serve Points Won – 2016 & 2017

Nadal’s commitment to hit more wide second serves in the deuce court was well rewarded, as he had the highest win percentage (64 per cent) there than in any other location.

In the Ad court, Nadal predictably served primarily at the body, and had the highest win percentage out wide, at 64.4 per cent.

View Nadal’s Serve Tendencies at the Serve & Return Tracker

Nadal won an impressive 74 per cent (2755/3721) of his first serve points in 2017, which was only one per cent lower than his personal best performances in this area in 2010 and 2012. He hit 286 aces this season, which was his second highest total after hitting 310 back in 2010.

Nadal’s renaissance back to No. 1 this season speaks of rounding out his game more, and getting inside his opponent’s head to figure out what they are expecting, and switching it.

Rafael Nadal, 10-time winner of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, was honored by tournament officials with the Conde de Godo trophy to commemorate his career event achievements on Monday. 

Albert Agusti, president of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899, and Javier Godo, Count of Godo in Barcelona, traveled to the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Manacor, Spain, to award the World No. 1 player with his second silver replica of the trophy. 

“There’s no one better fit to receive this award in his own museum than Nadal,” Agusti said. 

Nadal received his first replica of the Conde de Godo trophy in 2009 following five consecutive Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell triumphs. In addition to his 10 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell titles, the Spaniard is also a 10-time champion of both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and Roland Garros.

“(Nadal) is going to have to make room in this museum because there are surely more trophies to come,” Agusti said. 

Godo backed Agusti’s sentiments by jokingly suggesting that even by taking appropriate measures to keep another trophy from Nadal, no accolade is out of reach. “We’ll shield off our tournament trophies from him but even then, nothing is safe from this guy.”

Nadal, who confirmed he’ll compete in the 66th edition of the tournament (23-29 April 2018) and would need another five event victories in Barcelona to add a third Conde de Godo trophy to his collection, was humble in his response.

“I’m very excited about this second big Barcelona trophy, but there will be no more,” said the 16-time Grand Slam champion.

Grigor Dimitrov produced a number of moments worthy of the highlight reel during a season filled with career milestones, including a year-end No. 3 finish in the Emirates ATP Rankings, triumph at the Nitto ATP Finals and his first ATP World Masters 1000 title at the Western & Southern Open. After six days of voting, fans gave Dimitrov another accolade, with his dive volley against Yuichi Sugita in the Cincinnati quarter-finals crowned the Masters 1000 Golden Hot Shot.

View Complete Results For Golden Hot Shot 

The hot shot finished as the overwhelming favourite in the poll, receiving 33 per cent of votes cast. Pablo Cuevas’s no-look winner against Alexander Zverev at the Mutua Madrid Open finished second in the voting with 13 per cent of votes, followed by Rafael Nadal and Dimitrov’s rally at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and Juan Martin del Potro’s tweener at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which both received 12 per cent.

Re-live nine great hot shots from the season’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments:

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