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MUMBAI: Get ready for some thrilling tennis as the world?s top players gather in Indian Wells, California for the BNP Paribas Open.
In the men?s draw three time winner Roger Federer will be back in action for the first time since his dominant performance in the Australian Open. The Swiss player?s excellent start to the season has been interrupted by a bout of lung infection. The world number one seemed to be in the best form of his career in Melbourne and experts have predicted he will dominate this season and may go on to complete a Grand Slam. Federer says his priority is to retain his number one ranking and a win in Indian Wells will be a warning to his rival that the Swiss is back at his best.
World number three Rafael Nadal will be hoping to defend the title he won last year in a one sided final against Andy Murray. Nadal has won the event thrice and having won 15 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title is placed just one behind Roger Federer and two behind all time leader Andre Agassi. Like Federer, Nadal will also be making a comeback here. The Spaniard appears to be on the mend following the latest knee injury that affected him at the Australian Open, and he has been back in full training at home in Mallorca
However Nadal is yet some way off from his best and the man most likely to challenge Roger Federer will be number 2 seed Novak Djokovic. Even though he did not win a grand slam last year the Serb was remarkably consistent. He appeared in 10 ATP finals winning 5 titles. He has a good start to 2010 winning the Dubai Championships.
In fact the elite of tennis will be in action at Indian Wells. The field comprises all the top 10 players in the world with the sole exception of the Juan Martin del Porto who is suffering from a wrist injury. So stay tuned to Ten Sports and make sure you do not miss out on any of the excitement that lies ahead.
Additional Information: The BNP Paribas Open, the first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, showcases the best men‘s and women‘s players at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The tournament is played on hard courts and is the best-attended tennis tournament outside the four Grand Slam tournaments. In 2009, the Coachella Valley welcomed a record 332,498 people to the 12-day tournament, eclipsing the mark set the previous year when it became the first tournament outside of the Grand Slams to pass the 300,000 mark.
