During his historic career, Rafael Nadal has tracked down 67 tour-level singles titles in 25 different cities. The Spaniard has won titles all over the globe – as far east as Beijing and as far west as Indian Wells, California.

But Nadal has never won a title in Miami, the home of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, all 12 years he’s been on tour. On Saturday, the 29 year old is scheduled to make his 12^th appearance at the tournament when he plays Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the second round. Nadal hopes this year’s Miami Open presented by Itau has a new ending.

“I think I played well in my career here, no? Four finals. Another semi-final. Some more quarter-finals… So was a positive tournament for me,” he said. “Only negative thing is I never win it.”

Nadal has come close. In 2011 and 2014, he reached the finals but lost to Novak Djokovic. In 2008, Nadal lost to then World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in the final in straight sets. There also was Nadal’s memorable 2005 Miami final against Roger Federer. Nadal, then 18, was up two sets to zero but lost 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 3-6, 1-6 to the then World No. 1.

After slipping in 2015, Nadal, No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has shown signs that he’s returning to earlier levels. Last week at the BNP Paribas Open, Nadal forced World No. 1 Novak Djokovic into a first-set tie-break before falling in two sets during their semi-final match. It was the first time Nadal had reached the Indian Wells semi-finals since 2013.

“The difference is I’m enjoying [myself] on court. I’m not feeling the nerves on court. I’m not feeling that strange feeling that I never felt,” Nadal said. “I can lose, I can win, but I am happy on court. That’s the most important thing. That’s the big difference from what happened last year.”

Despite the lack of a title in Miami, the Spaniard has always enjoyed the tournament. He and the other Spanish players feel especially welcome in South Florida, Nadal said.

“The atmosphere here is great. I enjoy being here. The fans here are amazing with me,” he said. “Miami is an amazing city and is unbelievable for us to be here in Miami, to play here in Miami… for the Latin people, Spanish people, we feel close because of the very big community of Latinos here.”

He’d likely enjoy it even more with his first Miami title and his 28^th Masters 1000 title.

Marriage and fatherhood have brought Zhe Li to the best form of his career at age 29, but the Chinese star has his sights set on even bigger things to come.

Currently at a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 210, Li has cut his ranking in half over the past 12 months. After winning three ITF Futures events in China in the middle of the past year, he turned his attention to the ATP Challenger Tour at the end of 2015 and reached the quarter-finals of two Australian events in Traralgon and Canberra.

Li has opened his 2016 season strongly by reaching the quarter-finals of three ATP Challenger Tour events throughout Asia. This week at the Challenger event in Shenzhen, he recorded one of the biggest wins in his career by defeating World No. 102 Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the opening round. He credits his coach, Christophe Lambert, with his rapid rise in form.

“I’ve known him since 2008, but we’ve been working together for the last 15 months. He’s shown me how to use the weapons I have now to beat opponents and how to become smarter on the court,” said Li. “We have a very good relationship. I see him as my second father.”

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Li, though. After his ranking slipped well outside the Top 800 in 2009, he admitted to almost retiring after the Chinese National Games that year. But with the encouragement of his father, he decided to continue playing.

As his results continued to get better on the court, so did his personal life. He recently got married and is now a father to a three-month-old girl. Li admits that he finds it difficult to be away from his family while on tour, but is quickly learning to find a balance.

“I feel guilty because I only stayed with them for two weeks during the Chinese New Year and sometimes I miss my wife and baby,” said Li. “But I’m thankful that my wife fully supports my career. After the tournament in Shenzhen, I will fly back to Tianjin to be with them.”

Li has become even more motivated in recent years by the strong results that other Chinese players like Di Wu, Ze Zhang and Yan Bai have been producing. Despite being at an age where many of his peers are thinking about slowing down, he said he has no plans to retire for at least the next five years.

“I hope to at least reach the Top 100 before I’m 35 years old,” said Li. “I’m glad to be reaching the peak of my career now. I appreciate this chance and hope to build a brilliant career for myself so that I don’t have any regrets.”

Roger Federer, who was slated to play his first match since the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Djokovic) at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Friday, has been forced to withdraw due to a stomach virus. His second-round opponent Juan Martin del Potro faced lucky loser Horacio Zeballos instead.

“I am very sorry that I have to pull out of the Miami Open with a stomach virus,” said Federer. “I feel bad for the tournament and the fans as I have rarely ever had to withdraw at such short notice. I have not felt great for a few days and unfortunately it got worse in the last 24 hours. I was really excited to have my comeback in Miami but I am in no condition to play. I tried to warm up this morning but it was clear that I could not compete.”

“We were very excited to have Roger return to Miami this year and hope he feels better soon,” said Adam Barrett, Tournament Director. “Roger is a true legend of the game and has a huge following here in South Florida.  We look forward to seeing him here next year.”

Federer is 8-2 on the year, finishing runner-up in Brisbane (l. to Raonic) and reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic). He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in early February.

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