Fourth quarter: Heaviest quarter in tennis history? Yes!
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To say the fourth quarter is an explosive one would be a sheer understatement. This quarter features, wait for it.... Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro, Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios ….and Fernando Verdasco, a perennial thorn in the side of the top 10.
Second seed Djokovic, who is also the defending champion at Indian Wells, a tournament he has won five times in the past, will face his first big hurdle in the Round of 16 or the pre-quarter-finals, where he sees a likely meeting with Juan Martin Del Potro.
The tall Argentine, who has been enjoying a strong return to form after recovering from injuries, last year ousted Djokovic in the first round of the Rio Olympics, and this year was a thorn in the side of the Serb at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, with the Argentine taking a set off Djokovic before the former World No. 1 returned, only to lose his semi-final to Nick Kyrgios.
Incidentally, Kyrgios is also in this draw, and should Djokovic beat Del Potro, he will immediately be up against Kyrgios, who recently beat him in straight sets.
This draw will see a big battle of the young talent in the pre-quarters, with Kyrgios likely up against teen sensation Alexander Zverev; the younger Zverev last year won his debut ATP Tour level title at only 19 years old, defeating Stan Wawrinka, and has beaten Roger Federer twice.
Kyrgios, on the other hand, has beaten three of the big four on debut against them, the most recent of those Novak Djokovic last week.
The two youngsters – Kyrgios is 21 – have never played on the ATP Tour, but faced off at the exhibition team tennis tournament, the Hopman Cup last year.
Djokovic could face either of these two if he defeats Del Potro in Round 3, which means two tough back-to-back battles for the Serb.
The highlight for fans, here, of course will be the potential round four clash between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, one that we watched at the finals of the recently-concluded Australian Open and perhaps the greatest rivalry in the history of the sport.
That said, however, Nadal does not have an easy course to the Round of 16 – he will face compatriot Fernando Verdasco in Round 3, the same Fernando Verdasco who ousted him at the first round of the Australian Open last year.
Verdasco is a big hitter and recently made the finals of the ATP Dubai tournament with some big matches, eventually going down tamely to Andy Murray; although Verdasco has been known to be a thorn in the side of some of the ATP’s top hitters, it is doubtful he will beat Nadal given the form the former No. 1 has been in of late.
Barring any big upsets, we’re looking at one semi-final between Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka – and the other, for now, could be anybody’s guess. But the tournament itself promises to get off to an absolutely thundering start.
