On paper, it looks like a place Andy Murray could dominate. Hard courts. The U.S., where the Scot spent weeks of his off-season. A big-time event. But, for reasons even Murray can’t quite name, his haul of 45 tour-level titles is still missing one of the most prestigious crowns in all of tennis: a BNP Paribas Open title trophy from Indian Wells.

Murray has played at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event 11 times, every year since 2006. He’s had great runs, including in 2009, when he reached the final but fell to Rafael Nadal, and in 2007 and 2015, when Murray made the last four but fell to Novak Djokovic both times.

Murray has also had forgettable appearances in the desert, such as 2006, 2011 and 2012, when he fell in the second round all three years.

“I have never really felt that I played my best tennis here,” Murray said last year after his third-round defeat to Argentine Federico Delbonis. “I have tried and had many different preparations, where I’ve got here early and spent a lot of time on the courts, and sometimes I arrive later… Obviously it takes time to get used to new conditions regardless of where it is, but I have just never really found a way to get comfortable here throughout my career. It’s a shame.”

But if there were ever a year in which Murray could change his luck and win one of his two missing Masters 1000 titles, the other is Monte-Carlo, 2017 certainly seems like the season.

The Scot has won the past two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, finishing 2016 with his third Shanghai Rolex Masters crown and his first Paris Masters title to bring his career total to 14. Murray then ended the season by taking another “Big Title”, his first championship run at the ATP Finals in London.

Masters 1000 Champions

He’s hardly slacked off to start 2017 as well. Murray reached the final in his first ATP World Tour event, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, before falling to Djokovic in three sets. On Saturday, the Brit captured his first ATP World Tour title of the year by beating Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Murray has now reached the final in 14 of his past 16 tournaments, including seven of his past eight. “It’s been a great run. Can’t complain about much,” he said after winning Dubai.

For inspiration in Indian Wells, Murray might look to his Paris breakthrough this past November. Before he won the indoor Masters 1000 title for the first time last year, the Scot had room for improvement at that event as well.

Murray had reached the final only once before, in 2015 (l. to Djokovic), and had experienced early losses there, including in 2012 when he fell in the third round to Jerzy Janowicz. Yet in November, Murray went unbeaten in Bercy.

Through The Years: Murray At The BNP Paribas Open

Pablo Cuevas picked the most unorthodox way to win an unconventional final on Monday at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo. About to deliver a second serve on his fourth match point, the Uruguayan dipped down and tapped an underhand serve to Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who rushed to the service box and successfully returned the surprise tactic.

But Cuevas eventually won the point and made tournament history in Sao Paulo with his 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 win. The 31 year old became the first player since the tournament began in 2001 to win three consecutive Brasil Open titles. Spaniard Nicolas Almagro has won the tournament three times but only two of his titles were successive.

Cuevas celebrates his sixth career ATP World Tour title with his third consecutive Sao Paulo crown. All of the right-hander’s titles have come on clay and since 2014.

To think, on Sunday, Ramos-Vinolas had been only three games away from clutching his second ATP World Tour title. The left-hander led 7-6(4), 3-3, and was serving at 40/40 for a 4-3 lead. But rain delayed play until Monday evening, and Cuevas was the better player when play resumed.

He won the first two points of the renewed action to break and later took the second set. In the decider, Cuevas saved all three break points to improve to 6-3 in ATP World Tour finals. He leaves Sao Paulo with 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $81,220 in prize money.

Ramos-Vinolas, who won his first title last July in Bastad (d. Verdasco), falls to 1-3 in ATP World Tour title matches. He will receive 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $42,775 in prize money.

South Korean tennis is thriving with a talented trio causing a stir on the ATP Challenger Tour.

#NextGenATP player Hyeon Chung leads the charge at No. 92 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 20 year old has captured three Challenger titles in the past six months (Kaohsiung, Kobe and Maui).

Just behind is teenager Duckhee Lee. The 18 year old, currently World No. 135, has also reached a Challenger final, losing to Chung last September in Kaohsiung.

And last week, 19 year old Soon Woo Kwon emerged at the $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Yokohama. The university student advanced through three rounds of qualifying and then topped four opponents in straight sets to clinch a spot in the final. Top seed and local favourite Yuichi Sugita was forced to fend off two match points against Kwon to eventually prevail 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2).

“First of all, reaching this final pulled my ranking up to where I can play at the French Open,” reflected the World No. 231. “Also, the final left a big impression on me, I will play with more confidence in the matches to come.”

Having achieved such an impressive run to the Yokohama final, Kwon revealed that seeing the success of Chung and Lee has inspired his recent progress.

“Duckhee was my junior at Mapo High School, so we are very close. He is one year younger than I am, and he is ranked much higher. Because he is doing so well, it motivates me to do better when I think about how I am ranked lower than my junior,” said Kwon. “I think him doing so well makes me work harder. I am also close with Hyeon (Chung), we eat out together when we are in Korea.”

Kwon admits it would mean a “great deal” to join his countrymen in featuring at ATP World Tour events, but he is also aware of the level of work that is still required to reach that goal. “I need to improve in many regards,” added Kwon. “I need to build up endurance and physical strength, work on physical aspects.”

Should his fledging career continue to soar, who would Kwon like to emulate on the court?

“I like watching Federer and Murray play,” he admitted. “Federer’s game is very glamorous, and above all, very cool.”

•    All-Star Line-up in the Desert: The first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments of the season, the BNP Paribas Open, gets underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday, headlined by a star-studded field which includes every member of the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (46 of the Top 50) overall as of 6 March 2017. This is the 42nd edition of the tournament, which was first held at nearby Mission Hills in Palm Springs in 1976.

•    BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells): Three of the Big Four (except Murray) have accounted for 12 of the past 13 titles going back to 2004 when Roger Federer captured the first of his four titles (2004-06, 2012). Overall a Top 5 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings has lifted the champion’s trophy in 15 of the past 16 years, except 2010 when No. 26 Ivan Ljubicic won the title.  World No. 2 and five-time champion Novak Djokovic (2008, 2011, 2014-15-16) and three-time winner Rafael Nadal (2007, ’09, ’13) are the other title holders in the field.

•    Big Four Masters 1000 Dominance: The ‘Big Four’ of Murray, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have won 56 of the last 61 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, which dates back to Nadal’s triumph at Monte-Carlo in 2010.  The only other players to emerge with an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title during that time are: Robin Soderling (2010 Paris), David Ferrer (2012 Paris), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Monte-Carlo), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2014 Toronto) and Marin Cilic (2016 Cincinnati). Here is a breakdown of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles won by the Big Four during that span: Djokovic (25), Nadal (13), Murray (10) and Federer (8):

•    Big Four ATP Masters 1000 Titles: Here are the year-by-year ATP Masters 1000 titles of the Big Four since 2010:

•    ATP Masters 1000 Titles: Here are the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title leaders (since 1990):

•    ATP Masters 1000 Match Wins Leaders: Djokovic is closing in on 300 career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match wins. Here are leaders (since 1990):

•    Murray Top Seed:  Murray is the top seed in Indian Wells for the first time in his career. The World No. 1 is making his 12th straight appearance (25-11 record) and he’s looking for his first title. His best result was a runner-up in 2009 (l. to Nadal). He also reached the semi-finals in 2007 and 2015 (l. to Djokovic in both). Last year he lost in the 3R (l. to Delbonis in 3rd set TB). The 29-year-old British superstar comes in with a 12-2 match record on the season after capturing his 45th career title in Dubai (d. Verdasco). He also lost in the 4R at the Australian Open (l. to M. Zverev) and opened the season by reaching the final in Doha (l. to Djokovic). This will be the 18th consecutive week he’s held No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings since first taking over the top spot on Nov. 7.

•    Djokovic Reigning Champion: Djokovic enters as the three-time reigning champion and tournament record five-time title holder. He has a 17-match winning streak in Indian Wells since his last loss to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2013 semi-finals. Djokovic has a 47-6 career record and he has advanced to the semi-finals or better in eight of his previous 11 appearances. The 29-year-old Serb is 9-2 on the season. He opened with a title in Doha (d. Murray), lost in the 2R at the Australian Open (l. to Istomin), won a Davis Cup match vs. Russia (d. Medvedev) and reached the quarter-finals in Acapulco (l. to Kyrgios). He has 760 career match wins and he is two wins away from tying Pete Sampras for 10th place on the Open Era list.

•    Roger Returns: After missing last year’s tournament due to a knee injury, Federer returns to Indian Wells for the 16th time. The 35-year-old Swiss superstar has a 52-11 match record, winning titles in 2004-06 and 2012. He also was runner-up in his last two visits in 2014-15 (l. to Djokovic both times). Federer is playing in his second tournament (8-1 record) since capturing his 18th career Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open on Jan. 29 (d. Nadal in five sets). He became the second player to win a Grand Slam crown defeating four Top 10 opponents along the way (Mats Wilander in 1982 Roland Garros). Last week in Dubai he lost in the 2R (l. to Donskoy in third set TB after holding 3 MPs). Last year he played his last match at the Wimbledon semi-finals on July 8, 2016 when he lost in five sets to Raonic. He missed the rest of last season with a knee injury.

•    Nadal Eyes 70th Title: Three-time BNP Paribas Open champion Nadal is making his 13th appearance in Indian Wells (48-9 record). The 30-year-old Spaniard has won his three titles in odd years (2007, 2009, 2013) while reaching the final in 2011. Nadal is coming off a runner-up in Acapulco where he lost to Sam Querrey 63 76, suffering his first loss in Mexico (14-1). It was also his 30th tournament played on hard courts without a title, the longest of his career. Nadal is not only trying to capture his 70th career title, he is also aiming to earn his first hard court title since Doha in January 2014 (d. Monfils). Nadal has a 12-3 record on the season and he opened the year by reaching the quarter-finals in Brisbane (l. to Raonic) and following with a runner-up at the Australian Open.

•    Tsonga on a Roll: No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is off to his best career start since 2009 when he began with a 21-3 record. The 31-year-old Frenchman is 17-3 this season with back-to-back titles in Rotterdam (d. Goffin) and Marseille (d. Pouille). He enters Indian Wells on a nine-match winning streak. The top Frenchman has a 13-8 match record in Indian Wells with his best results the quarter-finals in 2013 and last year (l. to Djokovic in both).

•    Success to No. 1: In six of the last seven years (and eight of the last 11), the year-end No. 1 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings has won the most ATP World Tour Masters 1000 matches during that season. Last year No. 2 Djokovic won 31 matches followed by Murray with 27. Here’s a look at the year-end No. 1 players back to 2010:

Note: Then No. 2-ranked Federer also won 28 ATP Masters 1000 matches in 2014

•    #NextGenATP Stars: There are eight #NextGenATP players in the main draw, including five teenagers (not including possible qualifiers). Here’s a look at the talented 21 & under group listed in ranking order: 

•    400 Match Wins Milestone: There are three players who could reach the 400 career match wins milestone in Indian Wells:                                   

Philipp Kohlschreiber 399                                  
Gael Monfils 397                             
Marin Cilic 396

•    Americans Off to Quick Start: For the first time since 2003, there have been four American ATP World Tour winners going into Indian Wells. Top American Jack Sock has won two titles (Auckland, Delray Beach) along with Ryan Harrison (Memphis) and Sam Querrey (Acapulco). Three of the titles have come in three consecutive weeks and the last time that occurred was in 2012 with John Isner (Newport), Andy Roddick (Atlanta) and Querrey (Los Angeles). The four American titles are the most in a season since 2013 with five.

•    Infosys ATP World Tour Wins Leaders: Tsonga has compiled a 17-3 match record this season and his 17 wins is the most on the ATP World Tour. Here are this year’s match wins leaders:

•    Strong Doubles Field: The top six teams in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings are entered in the draw, led by Australian Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers. The top seeds are reigning champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. Here is a look at the Top 6 teams entered: 

1) Henri Kontinen & John Peers
2) Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
3) Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau
4) Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares
5) Ivan Dodig & Marcel Granollers
6) Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah

•    Former Champions in Draw: There are two teams expected to be in the draw: reigning champions Herbert & Mahut along with 2013-14 winners Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. There are five other players who have won the title with different partners:

— Vasek Pospisil (2015)
— Jack Sock (2015)
— Marc Lopez (2010 & 2012)
— Rafael Nadal (2010 & 2012)
— Daniel Nestor (1997, 2002, ’05-06): making 22nd tournament appearance

•    Top 10 Playing Doubles: There are four of the Top 10 singles players in the Emirates ATP Rankings on the advance entry list:

No. 4 Milos Raonic (w/ZImonjic)
No. 6 Rafael Nadal (w/Tomic)
No. 7 Marin Cilic (w/Mektic)
No. 9 Dominic Thiem (w/Kohlschreiber)

In Case You Missed It

World No. 1 Andy Murray captured the 45th tour-level singles trophy of his career, beating Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2 in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. Read & Watch

Sam Querrey beat four Top 20 players en route to clinching the Abierto Mexicano Telcel trophy, beating Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3) in the Acapulco final. Read & Watch

Catch up on off-court activities in Dubai, Acapulco and Sao Paulo. Read & Watch Best of ATP Stars

Sam Querrey has returned to his highest position in the Emirates ATP Rankings for three-and-a-half years as a result of beating four Top 20 players en route to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel trophy. The American beat No. 11 David Goffin, No. 9 Dominic Thiem, No. 17 Nick Kyrgios and No. 6 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(3) in the Acapulco final for his ninth ATP World Tour title. He has risen 14 places to No. 26 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, a position he last held on 5 August 2013. Read Acapulco Final Report

World No. 1 Andy Murray lifted the 45th trophy of his career at the 25th edition of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, beating former World No. 7 Fernando Verdasco who moved up six spots to No. 29. The 33-year-old Spaniard was last in the Top 30 of the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 30 on 6 April 2014. Dubai semi-finalist Robin Haase soared 19 positions to No. 47 and is back in the Top 50 for the first time since 7 July 2014 (when he was No. 49). Damir Dzumhur, who beat No. 3-ranked Stan Wawrinka en route to the Dubai quarter-finals (l. to Haase), also rose 10 places to a career-high No. 67. Read Dubai Final Report

View Latest Emirates ATP Rankings

#NextGenATP Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, who qualified for Acapulco and reached the quarter-finals (l. to Nadal), improved by 16 spots to move to a career-high No. 70 the Emirates ATP Rankings. Former World No. 65 Evgeny Donskoy broke back into the Top 100 for the first time since 10 October 2016 (at No. 97) by qualifying in Dubai and progressing to the last eight (l. to Pouille). The Russian moved up 17 positions to No. 99.

Nine tournaments, nine opportunities to test your talents at the highest level. There is no stronger barometer for success than the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events. Tournaments that span the globe in the most scenic, world-class locales, they provide the ultimate challenge with significant Emirates ATP Rankings points at stake. This week, the first of the year is set to get underway at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

To be the best, you have to perform at the most elite events. For more than a decade, the quartet of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have done exactly that. The Big Four have tossed aside any notion of parity at the Masters 1000 level in recent years, maintaining a stunning stranglehold.

“A lot of the top guys have been in the latter stages of the Masters 1000s and often to win them, you have to defeat a couple of them which is not easy,” Murray said in Cincinnati last year. “It just goes to show the consistency of the top players over the last 10 years or so has been phenomenal.”

The Masters monopoly Murray spoke of has been nothing short of astounding. Since March 2008, the quartet has claimed 88 per cent (71 of 81) of titles, including 54 of the past 59 crowns. Their prolific run of sustained dominance at the highest level is jaw-dropping. Only Marin Cilic (Cincinnati 2016), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Toronto 2014), Stan Wawrinka (Monte-Carlo 2014), David Ferrer (Paris 2012) and Robin Soderling (Paris 2010) have crashed the party since April 2010. In fact, on clay, the Big Four have won 29 of 30 Masters 1000 events dating back more than a decade, with Wawrinka’s victory at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters the lone exception.

With the majority held over the course of just one week, Masters 1000 tournaments are grueling sprints that often feature multiple battles between Top 10 players. And with a best-of-three set format, anyone can catch fire on any given day and spring an upset, which further adds to the intrigue of the Big Four’s dominance.

Big Four’s Masters 1000 Dominance

Djokovic has been at his very best here, amassing a record 30 titles since lifting his first trophy in Miami in 2007. Nadal sits in second place with 28 victories, while Federer resides in third with 24. Murray, meanwhile, is just three behind Andre Agassi with 14 crowns. To put this into further perspective, Agassi (17) and Pete Sampras (11) are the only players aside from the Big Four to win double-digit Masters 1000 titles.

“You value Grand Slams, but on the other hand, I’ve loved playing in Masters tournaments throughout my career,” said Djokovic after winning in Toronto last year. “I have had plenty of success in this particular category of events and I’m very grateful for that because I always value them as much as I value Grand Slams.”

Djokovic, Federer and Nadal own the longest win streaks in Masters 1000 history, with the Serbian having won 31 straight matches in 2011 and again accruing a streak of 30 in a row in 2014-15. Federer won 29 successive matches from 2005-06, with Nadal stringing together 23 straight in 2013. Moreover, Nadal is the only player to win a title in 10 straight seasons, having seized trophies in each campaign from 2005-14.

The world’s best will descend on Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open, with qualifying set to get underway on Tuesday and main draw action commencing on Thursday and running through the final on 19 March. World No. 1 Murray is seeking his first title in the California desert, while No. 2 Djokovic is eyeing a record sixth. Murray is bidding to extend his win streak at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level, having prevailed in Shanghai and Paris towards the end of the 2016 season. Including his title at the ATP Finals, the Scot is riding an impressive run of form in elite ATP World Tour events. In addition to Djokovic, other former champions in the field are Roger Federer (2004-06, ’12) and Rafael Nadal (2007, ’09, ’13).

Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas and third seed Pablo Cuevas will complete their rain-delayed Brasil Open final on Monday, with play scheduled to resume at 12:00pm local time in Sao Paulo. The heavens opened as Ramos-Vinolas led the two-time defending champion 7-6(3), 3-3.

Both players traded service holds throughout the opening set, but the Spaniard ran away with the tie-break as Cuevas’ steady baseline game betrayed him. The Uruguayan hit four consecutive errors to give Ramos-Vinolas a 6/2 lead and a forehand error from Cuevas on set point gave the Spaniard a commanding advantage.

Perhaps aided by a brief rain delay just one point into the second set, the defending champion regrouped by racing to a 3-1 lead, but Ramos-Vinolas fought hard to get the break back. With Ramos-Vinolas serving at 3-3, a more substantial shower began and the players were brought off the court.

Cuevas has once again produced his top form in Sao Paulo and extended his win streak here to 12 matches. Having entered the tournament with a 3-9 record since the US Open, he came alive this week with wins over sixth seed Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-finals and top seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the semi-finals.

Ramos-Vinolas looks to put the perfect end to his run in the Golden Swing of clay-court events in South America. The Spaniard recorded semi-final showings at the Ecuador Open and Rio Open presented by Claro, as well as a quarter-final finish at the Argentina Open.

 Watch Full Match Replays