With some difficult draws ahead at Indian Wells, watchers will see a packed bottom quarter that features Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro among others contesting for a quarter-final spot.
Here, we look at five players with an outside chance at the title:
Mischa Zverev
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Up to his highest rankings bracket over his career, 33rd ranked Mischa Zverev has had the season of his life so far, highlighted, only a couple of months into the season, with an emphatic win over Andy Murray at the Australian Open.
He has also been doing well in the doubles, taking the title in Montpellier with younger brother Sascha, ending a nine-year title drought. Although the older Zverev sibling has seen relatively early exits at most tournaments – barring this year’s Australian Open, the 29-year-old has put up spirited battles against players ranked higher than himself on multiple occasions.
Now, Mischa Zverev will look to capitalize upon his early success and momentum. With 2017 marking his career-highest ranking of 30, Zverev also ably showed at the Australian Open his proficiency at the serve-and-volley technique – one that most players today do not use, and one that was crucial in Zverev’s big upset of World No. 1 and 2016 runner-up Andy Murray.
Zverev is seeded 29th at Indian Wells, and as a result has a first-round bye, making him likely to face Dominic Thiem in the pre quarter-finals; the two last met two years ago at Stuttgart, with Zverev winning in straight sets.
Thiem is having a strong couple of seasons, winning four titles last year and one this year at the outdoor clay Rio Open – the young Austrian, currently ranked World No 9, is most comfortable on clay courts.
33rd-ranked Zverev may not be the favourite going into this match, but big braces this year could give the 29-year-old momentum to pull off an upset here.
That said, he could see a quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka. This will be an interesting matchup considering that of the two times the pair have met on court, it is Zverev who won – incidentally at Wawrinka’s home tournament in Switzerland.
Should the German ace manage to surmount that obstacle and beat one of the Big 4 – as he has done well before, we could see an interesting contest here at Indian Wells.
Alexander Zverev
Pipped by many as a future World No. 1, 19-year-old Alexander Zverev is seeded 18th, ahead of older brother Mischa, at Indian Wells. As a result of that seeding, he, like his brother will receive a first-round bye, and should have it easy until the Round of 16. That is where the young player will set up a clash with Australian ace Nick Kyrgios.
The two have never met on Tour before, having only faced off once – at the 2016 edition of the exhibition team tennis tournament, the Hopman Cup, with Kyrgios taking victory then.
But this is a different kettle of fish. The two are in the same quarter- the fourth, and one that is packed to the brim with top players – among them Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro.
Last year, Zverev became one of an elite list of players who have won ATP Tour level titles in their teens - among the others on that list is Rafael Nadal. The younger Zverev defeated Stan Wawrinka for the title at St. Petersburg only weeks after Wawrinka’s US Open victory.
Should he win that, he could set up a quarter-final against either Juan Martin del Potro or Novak Djokovic, a tough ask either way. Zverev has played neither on tour so far, but Novak Djokovic, even on a ‘bad’ day, is the World No. 2. His struggling form, however, has been picked apart by a number of players over 2016 and the beginning of the year, giving the talented Zverev – who has taxed the best – an opening this year.
It will be a miraculous story for the youngster if he does manage it, and a big argument in favour of the ‘Next Gen’ of tennis should Zverev manage to pull this one off, but he has more than the skill to do so.
The young player lost to Rafael Nadal in Round 4 last year – and will look to better his performance through a monster of a draw.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Currently ranked 7th in the world, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is having the best season he’s had in a while, or at least so far. Only a little over two months into the 2017 season, Tsonga has already won two titles – the ATP250 Marseille tournament, at home, and the ATP500 World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Tsonga is already nearing his career-highest ranking of 5th, and marking a solid return to form. With no big injuries, the tall Frenchman has found consistency after a patchy few seasons.
Last year, the World No. 7 finished in the quarter-finals, losing in two tight sets to Novak Djokovic; the Frenchman is likely to see a match against Fabio Fognini in Round 2 – no trouble given the Italian has yet to defeat him on court.
He will have a relatively easy start to the tournament, next likely to face Argentina’s Pablo Cuevas, who has just won his first title of the year at the Rio Open. Cuevas has defeated Tsonga on the only occasion the two have faced off, but on form alone Tsonga should not have a problem.
Tsonga does however have World No. 1 Andy Murray in his quarter, and that will be an uphill task considering the Scot has beaten him in 14 of the pair’s 16 matches – and won each of their last 5 showdowns, most recently at the Erste Bank Vienna Open last year.
But given his momentum so far, and Andy Murray’s lapses, this could well be a reality.
Nick Kyrgios
Although he is the bete noire of the tennis circle – and not without reason given his antics, Nick Kyrgios has repeatedly shown his immense skill with the racquet over the past year. With no full-time coach, the 21-year-old last year won the Rakuten Japan Open – his first title, and this year was responsible for ousting World No. 2 and top seed Novak Djokovic from the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, in straight sets.
The Australian was upset in his second round Australian Open match against Italy’s Andreas Seppi, but not after a long fight, and has done well this year since.
At the Open 13 Marseille, Kyrgios managed to take a set off eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before losing, repeating that feat in Acapulco, this time with the eventual title winner Sam Querrey.
Unfortunately, however, his issues with on-court behaviour have also continued well into the year.
Kyrgios has no doubt shown he can hold his own with the best of the best, but the young Australian will need to rein in his temper – and his play, if he is to succeed at Indian Wells.
This time around, Kyrgios is part of the dreaded final quarter – the one that contains Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro – but that may not faze him much; he is one of a few players who have beaten 3 of the Big 4 on debut.
He played Roger Federer for the first – and so far only – time at Madrid last year, beating him in three sets, all of which went to tiebreak, playing Nadal for the first time at Wimbledon in 2014, beating him in four sets, and added Djokovic to that list last week. If anyone could perhaps keep their cool (relatively speaking) through that, it would be Kyrgios.
That by no means denotes he has an easy draw – he could meet Alexander Zverev, like Kyrgios a sensational young talent, in the third round – and that promises to be a big contest. Although it may be an unlikely combination considering the quarter, Kyrgios could well put himself on a collision course against Djokovic in Round 4 – if Djokovic downs Juan Martin Del Potro in Round 3, that is – and either player is likely to be a deadly competitor for the 21-year-old.
He’s also defending few points here, crashing out in Round 2 last year – so he is likely to move up in terms of points.
But given the firepower he possesses and his gutsy shot making of late, we’ll give Nick Kyrgios an outside chance at the title.
Juan Martin del Potro
After a number of surgeries and long periods of recuperation from injury, Argentine ace Juan Martin del Potro made a thundering return to tennis in 2016, and with good results. Perhaps the highlight of his 2016 was a big victory over then-World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the first round of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Del Potro has only gone on to improve since.
A meteoric rise through the rankings sees the 35th-ranked Del Potro seeded 31 after a last-minute exit for the injured Milos Raonic, who defeated him at the Delray Beach Open this year. Raonic had been unable to play the final there, forfeiting the title to Jack Sock.
Following the Olympics, Del Potro performed strongly at the 2016 US Open – a tournament he entered as a wildcard, going down in the quarter-finals to eventual title winner Stan Wawrinka, and then guiding Argentina to a strong win over team Great Britain at the Davis Cup. Del Potro had been instrumental in that win, taking down World No. 1 Andy Murray in the process.
Although he sat out the Australian Open citing fitness issues, Del Potro has had a good year so far, with even his losses closely fought. The most recent of those was to Novak Djokovic at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, with the Argentine taking a strong first set before losing momentum.
On the back of his significant rise in the rankings, consistent fitness, and (luckily for himself and his fans, no injury struggles), Del Potro is a former US Open champion, and he has taken a set off Djokovic in every match the two have played in the last five years.
With the mental and physical form he is now in, this might not be difficult for Del Potro. The draw will get tougher should he progress, and he could next set up a meeting with Australian ace Nick Kyrgios – which promises to be a big contest.
