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.

One year after the launch of the #NextGenATP campaign, six #NextGenATP players took to the stage at Indian Wells to talk about their early years on tour and an exciting new event.

Americans Taylor Fritz, Stefan Kozlov, Reilly Opelka; Russians Karen Khachanov, Daniil Medvedev; and Croatian Borna Coric all participated in a question-and-answer session with fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden ahead of the BNP Paribas Open. The players discussed how they feel to be included in the ATP World Tour’s Next Generation, and they gave their thoughts on the inaugural #NextGenATP Finals.

The tournament, to take place 7-11 November in Milan, will feature the world’s top eight 21-and-under singles players. #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev is currently leading the season-long Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which will track the progress of #NextGenATP players throughout the year. The top seven players in the race will qualify automatically, while the eighth spot will be reserved for a wild card.

Fans are now able to register to get access to tickets for the #NextGenATP Finals when they become available. Click here to register.

All six players who were on stage will strive to reach Milan, but so far, Medvedev has performed the strongest. The 21-year-old right-hander sits at No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan. The Moscow native reached his first ATP World Tour final in January at the Aircel Chennai Open before falling to then No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut.

See Who’s Pushing Medvedev In The Emirates ATP Race To Milan

“It has been a great past 12 months for me and I will do my best to be in Milan and of course everyone who will be there, who qualifies to this event, they made an amazing year,” Medvedev said. “I will just be very happy to be there.”

Opelka, who’s currently No. 18 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, said he’s excited about the event and for the next decade of competing against his peers.

“It feels good,” said Opelka, who received a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open main draw. “I’m really looking forward to competing here this week and I’m really excited to be competing against these guys for hopefully maybe the next 10-15 years.”

Welcome back, Roger Federer. Now get ready to possibly face Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic if you want to reach the semi-finals during your return to the BNP Paribas Open, the season’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, which gets underway on Thursday.

Federer, the ninth seed, opens with a bye and could meet 24^th seed Steve Johnson in the third round. But the potential fourth-round match-up with Nadal is the contest tennis fans have highlighted.

View Draw

The battle would mark the 26^th time the two have played. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 23-12 but Federer won their last contest, of course, taking the Australian Open final in January for his 18^th Grand Slam title.

Knee surgery last year forced Federer to miss Indian Wells after 15 consecutive main draw appearances in the desert. The right-hander is 52-11 at the Masters 1000 tournament, including four titles (2004-06, 2012) and two runner-up finishes (2014, 2015).

Nadal, however, doesn’t have a free pass to the Round of 16. He has a first-round bye and if he gets through his second-round match, the Spaniard could meet countryman and 26^th seed Fernando Verdasco in the third round, which is always a contest worth watching. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 15-3, including a third-round win last year in Indian Wells.

Whomever reaches the quarter-finals from that section could meet three-time defending champion Djokovic, who’s riding an 18-match win streak in Indian Wells. But nothing is guaranteed in Djokovic’s portion, either.

After a first-round bye, the Serbian could face Brit Kyle Edmund in the second round and 31^st seed Juan Martin del Potro in the third round. Djokovic beat del Potro in three sets in Acapulco last week and leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 12-4.

If the seeds play out, 15^th seed Nick Kyrgios or #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev, the 18^th seed, could meet Djokovic in the fourth round. The victor from Djokovic’s quarter could face fourth seed Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals.

On the top half, far away from the stacked bottom portion of the draw, sits top seed Andy Murray. The Scot, who has won the past two Masters 1000 titles, could meet 30^th seed Feliciano Lopez in the third round and 16^th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round.

The highest seed awaiting Murray in the quarter-finals could be seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Stan Wawrinka, the third seed, could meet Murray in the top half’s semi-final.