Here are this week’s ATP world tour talking points ahead of the first masters 1000 event in Indian Wells.
- Mission Impossible For Novak? – Four time champion Novak Djokovic enters the Californian desert in the worst form of his career. He has picked up 385 points so far in 2017, which is worst points total heading into the first masters event of the season since 2006. If Djokovic wants to win his fourth BNP Parisbas title in a row, then he will have to go through the toughest draw in history. Juan Martin Del Potro, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev all awaiting the Serbian even before he gets to the semifinals. Can he defeat all obstacles to win his second title of the season? It is going to be a tough ask, but never count out the 12 time grand slam champion?
- Australian Open Deja vu? – If Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal thought they would have it easy in California, then they were massively mistaken. The two components that made the Australian Open final such a spectacle could meet in the fourth round of the BNP Parisbas Open. With a heavily loaded bottom quarter of the draw the two veterans will hope to continue their brilliant start to 2017. Federer had a mini blip last week in Dubai after his shock loss to Russian Evgeny Donskoy, while Nadal reached the final at the Mexican Open losing to an in form Sam Querrey. It’s going to be intriguing given the start to the season these two legends have provided, whether they can maintain their form. Can Nadal get his revenge on the Swiss Maestro?
- Can Americans Triumph In Rising Generation? – In a generation where American’s next gen stars are making their mark, Can an American actually win a big home tournament? There are eight Americans competing in California and that’s not counting qualifiers. Can someone like Isner, Johnson or Querrey rise to the challenge and become consistent enough to win a masters event? Isner nearly did it in Paris last year before running into the 2016 sensation that was Andy Murray and Querrey just won Acapulco by defeating four top 20 players. Or can next gen stars such as Kozlov, Tiafoe or Fratangelo cause an upset?
My Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Finals Bracket:
Here is my bracket for the quarterfinals onwards for Indian Wells:
Andy Murray v David Goffin
Stan Wawrinka v Dominic Thiem
Grigor Dimitrov v Kei Nishikori
Rafael Nadal v Juan Martin Del Potro
Semifinals:
David Goffin v Stan Wawrinka
Grigor Dimitrov v Rafael Nadal
Final:
Stan Wawrinka v Rafael Nadal
Winner:
Stan Wawrinka
