The first of nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments of the season, the BNP Paribas Open, gets underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday.
After his first-round bye, three-time former champion Rafael Nadal is slated to meet either Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller or Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic in the second round and could run into his Australian Open conqueror, countryman Fernando Verdasco, in the third round.
Rafa is seeded to face Gilles Simon and Kei Nishikori before the semi-finals, where Novak Djokovic could await.
Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet all feature in the opposite side of the draw.
Projected quarterfinals:
- Novak Djokovic vs Tsonga
- Rafael Nadal vs Kei Nishikori
- Stan Wawrinka vs Richard Gasquet
- Andy Murray vs Tomas Berdych
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- 1st round: Bye
- 2nd round: Gilles Muller or Victor Estrella Burgos
- 3rd round: Fernando Verdasco
- 4th round: Gilles Simon
- Quarter-final: Kei Nishikori
- Semi-final: Novak Djokovic
- Final: Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka
Good luck, Rafa! Vamos!
Source: ATP World Tour
Rafa!!!! Buena suerte, Campeon!!!! VAMOS!!!
I just like to say from the bottom of my heart we just have to respect our Player Rafael… ❤️⭐️🇪🇸🎾🏆👍💋☺️
That’s tough draw? Seriously? What do you guys want?? Like that Rio Open or Buenos Aires?
This is a Master 1000 tournament duh.
Good luck and vamos Rafa!
Go RAFA, 100% support.
RAFA, fan forever.
OLA,…..Where is our Dear Fan Love?
I hope he has been sufficiently tranquilized and won’t be awake until the Indian Wells finishes!!!!LOL
you haven’t figured out yet that ‘dear fan love’ is a she, and not a guy???? So much for the self-anointed ‘deep thinker’ title O_O
fan love is woman.
An excellent draw. Please stop calling good draws tough. You are acting like Nadal himself, going on court determined to lose serve soon, with no confidence at all. And these webmasters bashed a truth speaker the other week for being ‘negative’. My friggin lord.
good comment and good observations! you are correct about the draws – by calling it a tough draw is actually disrespectful and condescending to someone of Rafa’s stature, a 14-time gs winner! one hopes that he will fare well and overcome his slump, but without changes to the coaching team, …………………
For once, I’m constrained to agree with Abu Parker. He seems to be making sense now..LOL!
‘constrained to agree’????? what corner of the non-english speaking planet are you from, fruitcake?
Hoping that he will be confident and enjoy his game. Pay back time for Rafael when he meets Fernando!
Don’t bet on that, Lizzy!
Nobody is afraid of our dear Rafa anymore!!
That is not a tough draw. It is how it is supposed to be
Rafa always gets a tough draw. He’s always being tested even though he has already
solidified his record as one of the all time greats!
With that being said, I will always support him no matter what the results are.
I wish him all the best at this tournament. And I am also looking forward to seeing
how Delpotro performs after his injury. Another player I respect and greatly admire.
I just love these humble guys. Vamos, Rafa. I remain a loyal and engaged fan as always!
Why my comment is not posted?
Come on Do you really believe Rafa will go past Novak in SF? Why put his Final opponent as Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka then? Funny
Super Rafa .
way to go champ.
Winner – Rafa.
Nadal MUST beat Verdasco to start regaining confidence…If both reach the third round!
Well every draw is tough, the way Rafa is playing now. Will be glad if we makes it to QF!
Remeber rafa, lobs, passing shots, slices and body serves r good shots to look at
Ur a 14 times grandslam winner remeber that
Anyone is a tough draw with our champ these days but if he goes into every match with self confidence then he can beat anyone and has done before so Rafa my advice to you is go over some past videos where you were successful and take heart from them and cut down on the fidgeting and foibles which gives you more time to worry an go for it!!!!! Keep the coach and the 2 bottles though😊😊😊😊
hmm the 1 st two round are critical and he will be facing tricky opponent
Muller with good net play and volley and for me 3 rd round will be klizan who hits the ball with full swing like he want to tear apart the ball
so both opponent play is such which rafa often dont like to face in early rounds
But i want rafa to face verdasco …..so that he can feel confident for next rounds
all the very best luck rafa
just watch ur 2012 ao performances for a refesher
Vamos rafa
Good comments, Ashish.
Let’s not forget that Muller, like Klizan and Ferdasco, is a thorougbred lefty!!
Fellow lefties are usually nightmares for Nadal.
But…..we’ll see.
Good luck for the tournament. Vamos Rafa!!!
It’s a Masters 1000, of course the way to the title is not going to be easy. That said, normally he’d find his first tough opponent in the QF, but these days anybody can beat this version of Rafa, sadly.
all the very best for indian wells will be cheering you on when watching the tv in the lsle of man vamos rafa,you can only do your best glennis.
NEMESIS Fernando again? oh no …
I am not sure what is taugh fraw for Rafa these days. it is unpredictible …I stopped watching tennis after AO 2016. I’ll start again when/if Rafa is back.
KEEP SMILING THATS WHAT I DO IF I WORRY YOU WILL WIN ALL YOU WISH VAMOSS DARLINGXXXXXXXXX
Good luck rafa.we love you,vamos.
Pas facile pour notre Rafa ; mais depuis plus d’un an , il peut gagner ou perdre face à des adversaires classés assez loin
Bonne chance , Rafa et VAMOSSS champion !!!