There are few instances Novak Djokovic’s opening match at a tournament will garner such attention as his return to Indian Wells this season. Taking on Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel – a player at No. 109 in the ATP Rankings – on paper, it should be relatively straight forward for the five-time BNP Paribas Open champion. But after a stop-start return from an elbow injury at the Australian Open, where he exited to Hyeon Chung in the fourth round, the Serbian opted to undergo a “small medical intervention” on his troublesome elbow. While having put his body to the test on the practice courts, this will be just his second tournament since Wimbledon last July. The 30-year-old made it known his...
The first of many? Fans who had the opportunity to see #NextGenATP players Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz battle at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday will certainly hope so. The 20-year-olds entertained the crowd with more than 90 minutes of heavyweight hitting and plenty of plot turns. The second-round match on Stadium Court 2 featured 50 winners (28, Fritz; 22, Rublev) and seven breaks of serve. Watch Full Match Replays In the end, the home favourite Fritz reached the third round in Indian Wells for the second consecutive year 6-4, 7-6(4). The #NextGenATP California native was broken in the ninth game in the second set. But Fritz broke right back and, in the tie-break, clinched his second match point...
Year after year, the BNP Paribas Open continues to set the benchmark for tennis excellence on the ATP World Tour. The prestigious tournament in Indian Wells is consistently at the forefront of sporting innovation and is highly regarded by players and fans as one of the best events on the calendar. On Saturday, the tournament in the California desert was honoured once again, receiving its trophy as the top Masters 1000 event in the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon. It marked the fourth consecutive year in which it has celebrated the achievement. Linda Clark, ATP Vice President - Tournament Relations, Americas, presented tournament director Tommy Haas with the trophy in an on-court ceremony following Dominic...
The 2017 March Masters did not go as Dominic Thiem had hoped, as the Austrian lost in the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open and then fell in his opener at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The World No. 6 got off to a good start to the March Masters swing in 2018, defeating #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in a back-and-forth battle 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday afternoon at Indian Wells to move into the third round. Thiem has advanced to at least the quarter-finals at four of his five tour-level tournaments this season, with his only earlier loss coming in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. to Sandgren). The Austrian 24-year-old now has an ATP...
