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Even though uncertainty hangs over the 39th edition of the legendary rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, there is no dearth of excitement surrounding this face-off. The two all-time greats haven't crossed swords since their final showdown at the Shanghai Masters in October of 2017 and fans understandably are waiting eagerly for yet another classic after 17 months.
Rafa is the higher-ranked player this time at No. 2 in the ATP World Rankings with the Swiss placed two rungs below. He still enjoys a healthy edge of 23-15 in their head-to-head meetings. However, it was the 20-time Grand Slam champion who had the last laugh in their last five matches.
Federer rode on his refurbished backhand and newly-gained confidence to make in-roads into Nadal's game all through the 2017 season, winning their four meetings, one of which was a heavily one-sided 6-2, 6-3 victory for the Swiss at Indian Wells.
Having not beaten his greatest rival since 2014, the Spaniard should be motivated to end Federer's winning streak especially after the way he started the season with a runner-up finish at the Australian Open. However, Nadal's knee injury that he sustained during his quarter-final win over Karen Khachanov on Friday might just put paid to all those hopes.
The 17-time Major winner will take a call on Saturday morning depending on how he feels. If his body cooperates, we might be in store for another memorable chapter of their golden rivalry.
Here is all you need to know about the BNP Paribas Open
Tournament name: BNP Paribas Open
Category: ATP 1000 Masters
Location: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California
Surface: Hard
Round: Semi-finals
Time: (2) Rafael Nadal vs (4) Roger Federer expected to be around 1pm local time (1:30am IST on March 17 or 8pm GMT on March 16)
Where to watch the BNP Paribas Open in the USA?
Tennis Channel will show the BNP Paribas Open live in the USA.
Where to watch the BNP Paribas Open in the UK & Europe?
BNP Paribas Open will be telecast live in the UK on Amazon Prime Video while in France and Russia, Eurosport will show it. In Germany, it will be beamed live on Sky.
Telefonica (Movistar+) will be the channel for fans in Spain and TV3 Sport has the rights in Denmark. In Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, and Greece, Voosport, Max Sport, MTV, and Cosmote Sport will show it respectively.
Where to watch the BNP Paribas Open in India?
The BNP Paribas Open will be telecast live on Sony ESPN in India.
Live Stream Details and Info for the BNP Paribas Open
Live Stream for the BNP Paribas Open is available on Tennis TV (a subscription is needed for the service)
2019 BNP Paribas Open news, updates, schedule, results and more on Sportskeeda
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