The first ATP Masters tournament of the year, the hard-court Indian Wells tournament, is due to begin on Wednesday, the 9th of March, 2017. While qualification rounds are already underway, some of the top players will look to declare themselves here.
Novak Djokovic is defending 1000 points at the tournament here as the reigning champion, while reports have suggested that 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic may not participate as a result of injury.
Four-time champion Roger Federer will be playing at Indian Wells, as will Novak Djokovic, who will be looking to extend his record here from 5 titles to 6, and with it his already-held Open Era record for titles at the venue.
Here’s what we’re looking forward to from the tournament:
The Return of Novak Djokovic
Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had a difficult second half to the 2016 season, struggling with results at both Masters and Majors. The Serbian ace has been experiencing undisclosed problems in his form of late, with many fans hoping to see a resurgent Djokovic in the 2017 season.
However, his woes appear to have continued into the 2017 season, with Djokovic seeing a shock Australian Open exit at the hands of Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin early on; he had been defending his title there.
That was followed up with a straight sets quarter-final loss to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios at the Acapulco Open in Mexico last week, casting doubts on whether the player has entirely returned to fitness.
Now, the Serb will hope to redeem himself with the first Masters event of the year.
Incidentally, Djokovic is the reigning champion at Indian Wells, having defeated Milos Raonic here last year. He has won the tournament five times in the past, of which two wins were over Roger Federer, and one over Rafael Nadal.
In a recent interview, Djokovic revealed that tennis was ‘no longer (my) number one priority,’ and that he was now more focused on being a ‘father and husband.’ Apart from his injuries, the player has made no secret of his personal struggles, and we might see him struggle in terms of form until he reaches a happy medium in that regard; mental health is as key to a good performance as physical health is.
That said, however, fans may take heart from the fact that Djokovic is not struggling physically. After dealing with a wrist injury in 2016, Djokovic, who also had elbow issues, has been dealing with ‘personal’ issues and is likely struggling with motivation, as Rafael Nadal has in the past.
Now without a coach, Djokovic will also look to sustain that motivation.
Given his prior successes at the venue – and on this surface, we still expect Djokovic to go quite far into the tournament; of course that will depend on the draw he receives, but the Serb has maintained a consistently high level of tennis regardless.
He has 1,000 points to defend here at Indian Wells, and considering his 5,600 point deficit to Andy Murray at the moment, it is one title the Serb will work hard to defend.
Del Potro towers again
Gentle Giant Juan Martin del Potro has enjoyed perhaps his biggest resurgence in form yet over the past year. The former US Open champion, who has struggled with wrist injuries that nearly ended his career, mounted a return in the 2016 season that saw him slowly ascend the rankings following a second wrist surgery.
By mid-year, Del Potro had ascended significantly enough to qualify for the Olympic games, and it was here that the Argentine truly declared his comeback, defeating then World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the pair’s first-round clash in Rio.
The Tandil native would eventually face – and defeat – Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals; he won the singles silver in Rio, losing to Andy Murray in the finals.
2016 also saw Del Potro win his first title since his return from injury, at the Stockholm Open.
Del Potro would later go on to defeat Andy Murray in a five-set Davis Cup epic, and ended the year with the Davis Cup trophy for Argentina, beating Croatia in the finals.
Now into 2017, Del Potro sat out the Australian Open, clarifying that his absence was not due to injury but insufficient time to regain his fitness, and opened his season with the Delray Beach Open, a title he won in 2011.
He made the semi-finals, losing to Milos Raonic, and followed that up with a strong performance at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, where he scalped a set off top seed Novak Djokovic before his eventual loss.
Del Potro has made the finals at Indian Wells before, in 2013, where he took the first set off Rafael Nadal before eventually losing – that year, he defeated Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to make the final.
He appears to be back to fighting fitness, and should Del Potro be able to carry that form into Indian Wells, fans will have a treat on their hands.
Also assisting this is Del Potro’s immense hard-court form – he has a 15-8 title record on hard courts, of which 13-5 is on hard courts, the same surface that Indian Wellls is played on.
Depending on the draw at Indian Wells, we could see some interesting matches quickly into the tournament.
Nadal’s continued form
This season has seemed to many fans a replay of 2013, especially since the epic Australian Open 2017 final that saw old rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal take centrestage yet again.
And although Roger Federer came out on top and extended his own record to a mammoth 18 Majors, Nadal, who has long struggled with injuries, put his immense fitness on display this year.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner is perhaps in the form of his life, and appeared completely unfazed and unfatigued by a series of tough matches – including the five-set final against Federer. Perhaps in his favour, also, was the decision to bring former World No. 1 Carlos Moya onto his coaching squad; Moya’s presence appears to have bolstered Nadal’s confidence immensely.
After a tough 2016 season, one that saw Nadal miss both Wimbledon and the French Open, the Spaniard alluded heavily to burnout, and revealed that the season had been so mentally taxing that he had considered retiring at one point.
But the break appears to have done Nadal much good, especially in terms of motivation. The Australian Open final was his first Slam final in three years, and that confidence went into the ATP500 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, with Nadal progressing to the finals before eventually being upset by big-serving American Sam Querrey.
Nadal is a three-time champion at Indian Wells, most recently winning the title in 2013 after defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the finals; he has won three titles of four finals here, losing to Novak Djokovic in 2011.
The fitness and form Nadal is currently putting on display is certainly something fans will want to see this year.
#5 for Roger Federer
Seventeen is a good enough number that many fans – even die-hard Roger Federer supporters, perhaps even the player himself, would have been content with the Swiss ace’s 17-Major tally.
But with Federer’s struggles in the 2016 season, many had called news of his retirement imminent.
Following Wimbledon, Federer took a 6-month hiatus from the sport, returning to full-time practice in late October after being hampered by a series of injuries, both old and relatively new, and that break appears to have dialed the years back for the Swiss.
At 35-years-old, Roger Federer began the Australian Open seeded a relatively lowly seventeenth, before powering through the rankings to set up a dream final for fans against his arch-rival, Rafael Nadal.
Already a four-time champion at Indian Wells, Federer is fresh off an epic outdoor hard-court win. He has also made six finals here at Indian Wells, of which three were consecutive – and won him titles, a record only matched by Novak Djokovic.
If he can win an 18th Major, why not a fifth title at Indian Wells? Of course, that brings us to another big possibility...
Time for Murray and Djokovic to clash again
The two top seeds – now, with their roles reversed, met frequently on tour last year – at the finals of the Australian and French Open, capping off the year with a face-off at the ATP World Tour Finals, a Murray win that meant he held on to the World No. 1 title.
Djokovic, although still appearing to struggle somewhat, pipped Murray to the ATP Doha title early in the year; that said, the Serb’s points deficit is a significant one – currently at 5,600, and one he will want to make up as soon as possible.
Both players saw early exits at the Australian Open this year – Djokovic courtesy Denis Istomin, Murray courtesy Mischa Zverev, but Murray has managed to keep his morale since, pipping Fernando Verdasco to lift the ATP500 Dubai trophy last week.
Djokovic, meanwhile, made his debut in Acapulco, at the ATP500 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – and in a shocker, went out in a straight-sets quarter-final loss to Australian ace Nick Kyrgios.
It could mean one of two things – Murray could either exact ‘revenge’, in a manner of speaking, against Djokovic, or rub salt in the wounds of his flagging rival in widening his points lead.
Whatever the result is, a clash between the top two players in the world promises to be a tight display of tennis, and the added on-court history and tension between the players will make this a good one.
