To witness Novak Djokovic lift the trophy at the BNP Paribas Open is a familiar sight for tennis fans in the California desert. For the three-time defending champion, another tradition has become old hat as well. Every year since 2014, Djokovic has been etched into Indian Wells lore - literally - with the tournament's singles champions honoured with a personalised mural by renowned artist Michael Sullivan. The tournament paid tribute to the World No. 2 on Stadium Plaza on Thursday afternoon. "Michael is a great artist and I'm really happy that we see each other annually now," said Djokovic. "Hopefully we will keep that tradition going. It's a very nice tradition that Indian Wells is doing to honour the past...
The Bryans rock. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have been hitting the right chords for the past 18 years at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and on Thursday they were on song with entertainment of a different kind. Fans chanted “Here we go Bryans!” as the American twins rocked out with Counting Crows star percussionist Jim Bogios at the Village Stage. The winningest doubles team in history have demonstrated their musical talents over the years, forming the Bryan Bros. Band and performing with renowned recording artists. As throngs of fans filed in on a warm Thursday evening, the energy emanating from Bob on keyboard and Mike on guitar engulfed the plaza. And when actress Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang...
If there were a tennis tee-shirt proclaiming ‘Been There, Done That’, Gunter Bresnik would surely wear it. Having spent three decades working as a coach, the Austrian has trained close to 30 players – including a nine-month stint with Boris Becker – in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. As coach to Dominic Thiem for the past 11 years, Bresnik talks to ATPWorldTour.com about the keys to planning a practice session in the first of a new Coaches' Corner series. What are the main differences between planning the structure of a practice session before a tournament or during a tournament? Mainly, the practice sessions are before or after a match. Before a match you oversee a warm-up, ensure...
Qualifier Dusan Lajovic continued his solid run at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, scoring an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory over wild card and #NextGenATP player Frances Tiafoe in the opening round. The Serbian dropped just four points in racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening set and continued to hold the momentum, breaking Tiafoe twice more in the second set to secure the win in one hour and 17 minutes. Lajovic will now play No. 30 seed Feliciano Lopez. [ALSO LIKE] Alexandr Dolgopolov kept up his recent run of form with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 victory over Viktor Troicki. Last month’s Argentina Open champion broke the Serbian twice in each set to wrap up victory in 69 minutes....
He’s hit every high there is in tennis, but in the past few months Novak Djokovic has also had to endure some of the lows. They say the only way is down once you reach the top, but the Serbian insisted on Thursday that he is as hungry as ever and determined to fight his way back to the pinnacle of the sport. Djokovic was seemingly unstoppable as of June 2016. He finally achieved his lifelong dream of winning Roland Garros, completing the career Grand Slam, and had a healthy lead on his closest competitors in the Emirates ATP Rankings. But a shock third-round loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon led to a frustrating second half of the season. By...
