Amid all the hype surrounding Novak Djokovic’s section of the draw being chock full of former champions at the BNP Paribas Open this week, fourth seed Kei Nishikori finds himself the man in waiting. The Japanese star turns his pursuit of a maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title to the Californian desert and is seeded to meet whoever emerges from that heavy quarter.

Nishikori readily admits there are a mountain of obstacles to overcome before he would even turn his sights to that semi-final clash. And after mixed results on the Latin American clay leading in, he gave himself extra time to settle in ahead of the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 event.

“I’m feeling very good,” Nishikori, a quarter-finalist at last year’s event, said. “I had a lot of time after Rio so I was working really hard. I had a couple more days here to adjust to this surface.

“It was a big decision not to play Memphis but I think it was a good experience. The condition was a little bit tough in South America. I thought it was a good two weeks even though I lost first round and lost a final. I hope I can do well here and Miami now.”

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Nishikori believes he is gradually closing the gap on the Big Four’s dominance of the ATP Masters 1000 events. It is as much about mental inroads as technical.

“Those guys have a lot of experience,” he said. “They know how to raise their level in the match and we’ve got to fight for those tough moments.

“I’m working on a bit of everything. Tennis-wise I think my serve, strokes – I’ve still got to make some adjustments and mentally I have to be strong to win big tournaments like this.

“You usually have to play the tough guys second or third match and conditions are not that easy. These two tournaments are 1.5 weeks but you have to play tough opponents almost every day so you have to be really mentally and physically tough. To win the Masters you have to beat maybe Djokovic and Andy and some of those top 10 players.”

The fourth seed would likely meet sixth seed Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals with 14^th seed Lucas Pouille his seeded round of 16 opponent. He will meet either Daniel Evans or Dustin Brown in his first match.

Under sun-kissed skies, Stan Wawrinka has be practising hard for a shot at improving on his performances at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The Swiss star has gotten off to a strong start in 2017 and is hoping to carry the momentum into the desert.

“I’m still trying to work on my game every day and trying to improve, getting results every week,” said Wawrinka, ahead of the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season. “I’m happy with the first month, with semi-finals in Brisbane and at the Australian Open. I was playing well, after a good off-season. I had some knee problems since then, so I couldn’t play well enough in Dubai, but I think it’s been going well on the practice courts. If I can keep that level the result will come.”

Wawrinka, who opens his campaign against Robin Haase or Paolo Lorenzi, reached the quarter-finals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2008 (l. to Djokovic) and 2011 (l. to Federer).

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With every member of the Big Four – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – performing well, the 31-year-old Wawrinka was hard-pressed to pinpoint a favourite to win the tournament, which features 44 of the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

“It’s tough to really put one as a favourite, with Roger winning the first Grand Slam of the year, Rafa coming back, Novak not playing quite as good as the past few years and Andy winning the Dubai title. It’ll be interesting to see how the draw goes a little bit. For sure, if Novak can win a few matches, especially with his draw, he’s going to gain a lot of confidence from that.”

Play gets under way on Thursday, with 16 first-round matches from the top half of the draw.

Twelve-time ATP World Tour titlist Tommy Robredo makes his return to the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday in his first match at Indian Wells in two years. Having undergone right elbow surgery last season, the former World No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings arrives in the desert on a protected ranking and will meet #NextGen ATP Russian Karen Khachanov first up on Day 1.

The pair has never met and will open play on Stadium 1, with Robredo looking to overturn an age gap of 14 years to deny the World No. 52. The Spaniard reached the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open in 2010 and 2011.

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#NextGen ATP Americans Frances Tiafoe and Bjorn Fratangelo also begin their 2017 BNP Paribas Open campaigns on Thursday. Tiafoe arrives off a first-round defeat at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco where he extended Juan Martin del Potro to a deciding-set tie-break. He opens against Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic. In the second round last year, Tiafoe held two match points before falling to eventual semi-finalist David Goffin.

Fellow wild card Fratangelo starts against World No. 42 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Bernard Tomic. Last year, Fratangelo extended then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic to three sets in the second round before the Serb went on to clinch the title.

Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov has tasted success in the desert before when he upset then-No. 1 Rafael Nadal en route to the 2014 BNP Paribas Open semi-finals. The 28 year old captured his first ATP World Tour title since 2012 in Buenos Aires two weeks ago and faces a tricky opener against World No. 39 Viktor Troicki. The Serbian leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0.

TALKING POINTS

• Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer have won 12 of the last 13 BNP Paribas Open titles. In 2017, however, only one of the former champions could reach the semi-finals after being selected in the same quarter of an ATP draw for the first time ever. Also in the bottom quarter are Nick Kyrgios and del Potro, who both have wins over Djokovic, Nadal and Federer.

• Djokovic enters the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season with five titles and a 17-match winning streak at Indian Wells. He could meet del Potro in the third round on Tuesday, only 13 days removed from their second-round match at Acapulco. Djokovic avenged losses to del Potro in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics by beating the Argentine in three sets at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

• Nadal is a three-time singles and two-time doubles champion at Indian Wells, and he’s playing both events again this year. The Spaniard will team up with Tomic for the first time. Nadal has already reached singles finals at the Australian Open and Acapulco in 2017. However, the lefty has played six finals and 30 events on hard courts since his last title on the surface at 2014 Doha.

• Federer, a four-time BNP Paribas Open champion, returns to Indian Wells after missing the 2016 event. The Swiss recovered from his knee injury and knocked off Nadal at the Australian Open to became the oldest Grand Slam champion (35) since Ken Rosewall at the 1972 Australian Open and the lowest-ranked major champion (No. 17) since Gaston Gaudio at 2004 Roland Garros.

• Nadal and Federer could meet again in the fourth round on Wednesday, which would be the earliest match in their rivalry since their first encounter in the 2004 Miami third round. The winner may meet Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Nadal’s last meeting with Djokovic was in the 2016 Rome quarter-finals, while Federer has not played the World No. 2 that early since the 2007 Dubai quarter-finals.

• World No. 1 Andy Murray is one of two former finalists in the top half of the draw along with No. 20 seed John Isner. Murray is missing only Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo from his collection of 14 ATP Masters 1000 titles. Now 2,215 points ahead of Djokovic in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Murray has captured 10 titles in 14 finals from the 16 tournaments that he has played since May.

• The 2017 BNP Paribas Open marks the one-year anniversary of #NextGenATP, launched at Indian Wells last year to spotlight the tour’s youngest Top 200 players. Born in 1996 or later, nine #NextGenATP players are in the draw this week, including American teenagers Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov, Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka. Tiafoe is the highest-ranked of the four at No. 86.

• Seven of the Top 10, 15 of the Top 20 and 31 of the Top 40 singles players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are playing doubles at Indian Wells, including Murray, Djokovic and del Potro. Murray and Djokovic are teaming with countrymen Daniel Evans and Troicki respectively. Del Potro, on the other hand, is paired with 43-year-old Indian Leander Paes, who won the 2007 doubles title.

No doubt about it, the hot topic at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is that section of the draw. The one that features Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev to name but a few.

At the top of the draw, World No. 1 Andy Murray is able to rub his hands together with glee, just like any other tennis fan.

“It’s an amazing draw. I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s one of the toughest sections of a draw of all time,” said the Scot, speaking during his pre-tournament media at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday.

“In terms of the number of Grand Slam titles you have in that section and some of the younger up-and-coming players that are likely to be at the top of the game for a long time, it’s pretty exciting for tennis fans. There will be some exciting matches early on in the tournament for sure. There’s even guys like [Fernando] Verdasco in there, who are dangerous players. It’s definitely tough on the guys in that section. It’s obviously a section that ideally you’d want to be avoiding if you can.”

One possibility the draw throws up is a Federer-Nadal fourth-round clash. The two met for the 35^th time a few weeks ago when they contested the Australian Open final, with Federer prevailing in five sets to clinch his 18^th Grand Slam championship.

“People want to watch Rafa and Roger playing against each other and when they’re on opposite halves of the draw it takes a lot to go right for them to compete against each other,” said Murray. “When they’re right next to each other, it’s only one or two matches, people want to see it. If they get there it will be a packed house and that’s good for tennis.”

Murray has been the man to beat at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in recent months, winning the past two of the elite tournaments in Shanghai and Paris. The Scot is hoping that momentum will carry him to a first BNP Paribas Open title, having finished runner-up in the desert in 2009 (l. to Nadal).

It’s one of few goals Murray has left to achieve in tennis, but as he explained to the media, all his successes bring him even more happiness now.

“The past few years have been great on and off the court,” said the Dunblane native, who married his wife, Kim Sears, in April 2015 and welcomed his first child, Sophia Olivia, just over one year ago.

“I’ve certainly enjoyed my wins a lot more than I did that first Wimbledon (in 2013), when it took me a little while to get back on track after that. I had my back surgery quite soon afterwards but also I felt like that was what I was playing tennis for, that my reason for playing was to win Wimbledon. After that, what else was there for me?

“But definitely now I’ve moved on from that. I play tennis predominantly for myself and my family now and I want to keep achieving as much as I can.”

Read More: Federer Unfazed By Difficult Indian Wells Draw

In a way, Roger Federer might get exactly what he wants during his return to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week. Federer said he came to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament to face the best, and he should have that opportunity early and often at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The four-time champion has been drawn in the same quarter as five-time champion Novak Djokovic, three-time titlist Rafael Nadal, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev and World No. 16 Nick Kyrgios, who’s coming off his first win against Djokovic last week in Acapulco.

It’s the first time that Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have been drawn in the same quarter. They were drawn in the same half for the first time last year in Rome. The Swiss star isn’t sure if he’s faced a tougher draw during his 20-year career, but he’s also not worried.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve gone through so many draws. I came here to Indian Wells to play against those guys. So it doesn’t matter if it’s a semi, a final or actually a fourth round,” Federer said during his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday.

Read More: Federer In Toughest Quarter In History

The 35 year old can’t meet Nadal until the fourth round, but even that isn’t a sure bet for Federer, who’s returning to Indian Wells for the first time since 2015. Knee surgery last year forced him to miss the tournament after 15 consecutive main draw appearances in the desert.

“It’s good to be back here and still on the comeback,” said Federer, who’s playing in his third tour-level event of the season. “I’m enjoying practice more than ever and can’t wait for the matches to roll around.”

In the third round, Federer could meet former Top 10 player Kevin Anderson or 24^th seed and California native Steve Johnson. Next, Federer might face Nadal in the fourth round, which would be the earliest they’ve met at a tournament since their first meeting in 2004, when they played in the third round in Miami.

Since Nadal took that debut contest, 13 years and 34 more FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings have passed. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 23-12, but Federer has won their past two contests, including the Australian Open final in January.

If Federer advances past Nadal and the seeds play out on the bottom portion of the draw, Federer will face Djokovic, who’s looking to extend his 17-match win streak in the desert and claim his fourth consecutive Indian Wells title. But del Potro, Zverev and Kyrgios also loom in the Serbian’s section.

“Most of the guys you won’t even see because they’ll eliminate each other. So from that standpoint the first message I got was Dudi Sela or Stephane Robert,” Federer said of his potential second-round opponents, following a first-round bye. “Then I heard that Rafa was in my section, you’re like OK, and then you hear that maybe Novak’s in your section and you’re like OK, fine.”

Helping Federer stay relaxed is that winning feeling he’s still carrying from Down Under. The 18-time Grand Slam champion said it feels like his five-set win against Nadal happened just yesterday.

“I still feel like I’m on Cloud Nine,” Federer said. “Things are terrific, and I’m happy if I made a lot of people happy, because I know I’m not just playing for myself these days. There’s so much more to it.”

The right-hander has a 52-11 career record in Indian Wells, a run that includes four titles (2004-06, 2012) and two runner-up finishes (2014, 2015).

Read More: Djokovic, Federer Aim To Continue Indian Wells Dominance

From a Californian desert paradise across country to the humid Sunshine State, the ATP World Tour is heating up in March. The first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of the season come back-to-back, as the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells kicks proceedings off on Thursday, followed by the Miami Open presented by Itau starting on 22 March.

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic is the defending champion for both tournaments and has completed the Sunshine Double the past three years. The Serbian has five titles in the desert and six over at Crandon Park but is under big pressure to perform well again if he wants to keep pace with current No. 1 Andy Murray in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Djokovic will also have to contend with a world-class field at both events, featuring the likes of Australian Open champion Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.

For the first time ever, every singles and doubles match from both events will be streamed live on Tennis TV, with all the matches available on demand – indefinitely – to watch in the REPLAYS channel. All 126 matches will be live from Indian Wells and Miami.

New devices. New features.

As well as being available on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV, Tennis TV apps are now live on Roku and Xbox One. If you’re a subscriber, you can use any of these devices and enjoy everything that Tennis TV has to offer.

‘MY CHANNEL’ has also just been launched across Tennis TV, where you can save your favourite videos into a personal playlist to watch later – whether that’s replays, classic matches, highlights or more. Join now and don’t miss a ball from the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open presented by Itau in 2017 on Tennis TV.

Serve and volley is relevant again, and Mischa Zverev is a big reason why.

Zverev shocked the tennis world at the Australian Open in January by defeating World No. 1 Andy Murray 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the Round of 16. The German served and volleyed 119 times against the Scot to single-handedly resurrect one of our sport’s most maligned strategies.

The 29-year-old Zverev achieved a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 30 at the end of February, capping off one of the most inspiring comebacks from injury our sport has seen.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Zverev’s resurgence points back to the 2016 Asian Swing as the period when his game caught fire.

Zverev had won only four ATP World Tour main draw matches during the first eight months of 2016, but he would go on to win eight in the final six weeks of the season.

• Shanghai Rolex Masters quarter-finals
• Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finals
• Shenzhen Open quarter-finals

The ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS, powered by the Infosys Information Platform, show that Zverev has actually been performing better on the returning side than on the serving side during the past 12 months.

His ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS Return Rating has him 22^nd best on tour, whereas his ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS Serve Rating puts him at 29^th best. Zverev is a commendable 15^th in break points converted, at 42.6 per cent during the past year.

See Who’s Pushing Zverev In The ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS

The German has a 6-7 record in 2017. He has won 63 per cent (686/1090) of his total serve points and 37 per cent (410/1116) of his return points. As a comparison, his return numbers are slightly higher than World No. 4 Milos Raonic, who is at 36 per cent.

Zverev’s blocking return game is very solid, but it’s his serve-and-volley strategy that is turning heads, proving it is a viable counter-strategy against the current crop of baseliners at the pinnacle of our sport.

In defeating Murray in Melbourne, Zverev served and volleyed on a staggering 88 per cent (119/135) of his service points, winning 59 per cent of them. Zverev won only 48 per cent (34/71) from the baseline, so it’s clear to see coming forward trumped staying back.

Through five matches at the Australian Open, Zverev played more serve-and-volley points than baseline points – something unheard of in today’s game. Serve-and-volley points won accounted for a staggering 44 per cent of Zverev’s total points won through five matches.

Mischa Zverev – 2017 Australian Open Points Won

Serve and Volley = 63% (289/459)

Baseline = 49% (169/348)

There is much to celebrate in the Zverev household these days, as Mischa’s 19-year-old younger brother, Alexander Zverev, posted a career high ranking of No. 18 just last month, and currently sits at No. 20.