The ATP World Tour heads to the Californian desert for the first Masters 1000 event of the year beginning on March 5th.
After the dark days of February, springtime is fast approaching and that means the world's elite tennis player are gathering for a month of action on the sun bleached cement of North America. Fans flock in their droves to Indian Wells which became the first tournament outside of the slams to clock a total attendance of over 300,000 people in previous years.
All eyes are on Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion who triumphed in Melbourne and Dubai with a succession of astounding displays. Djokovic did the Australian Open - Indian Wells double in 2008 but after his surprise defeat against Andy Murray in Dubai is he still the favourite to win the BNP Paribas Open?
The ATP Indian Wells often throws up a few upsets and the 2010 event threw up one of the most heart-warming stories in recent years as the popular Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, finally claimed a Masters Series title at the age of 31, beating Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick along the way.
Last year’s men’s singles was won by Novak Djokovic, who remarkably came back from a set down against world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. This was one of the key matches that allowed Djokovic to take over as the world No. 1, and marked him out as the top dog in the men’s game. He’ll be here this year to defend his crown.
Andy Murray is under pressure to prove that he can be a consistent force in the men's top 4, but after failing to make the Australian Open 2012 final this year and failing to win the Dubai final against Roger Federer, will he be fit to go all the way?
The women’s singles draw should also be packed with great matches this year, with Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Na Li and Sam Stosur all in the mix. Two times Indian Wells champion Kim Clijsters unfortunately withdrew from the tournament due to a left ankle injury.
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