Roger Federer to play Rafa Nadal in Indian Wells fourth round

It’s the first time that Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have been drawn in the same quarter.

Young Mason got a chance to spar with the 14-time Grand Slam champion, but not on the tennis court.

“I would just like to ask Rafa how he can play every point as if his life is on the line”. Take a look back at each of their memorable showdowns (plus a couple of exhibition matches). Yet in his most ragged game of the match, Nadal lost his range scattering errors to give back the break at love for 2-all.

Rafael Nadal made light work of Argentina’s Guido Pella to secure a third-round tie against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

The unique situation is the result of last year’s drop in form – and ranking – for Federer and Nadal, who signalled their resurgence with an epic Australian Open final duel in which the Swiss emerged victorious.

Roger Federer during the Kids-Only Press Conference at Indian Wells. “I think that was more the problem tonight”.

After edging Steve Johnson 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) on Tuesday, four-time Indian Wells champion Federer told reporters: “I’m very excited”.

“I have never really practised playing against serve-and-volleyers in my career, but when I have come up against them, it’s normally been a game style I have enjoyed playing against”, Murray said. Muguruza broke her in the second game of the final set and again in the final game as the left-handed youngster surrendered with a double-fault.

“Sometimes you don’t feel comfortable in one event, and it’s hard to overcome that”, Nadal said, recalling his string of disappointments in Cincinnati before he managed a victory there.

Kyrgios and world number two Djokovic will contest a round of 16 fixture after the Australian number 15 seed took just 73 minutes to beat highly regarded German Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 in what was billed as the “next-gen battle”. The leftie went on to reach his first final of the year on the same weekend as Nadal in Dubai losing to world number one Andy Murray in straight sets. “I think that’s one thing that gets overlooked”, Kyrgios said.

“I went out on the track with nothing to lose”.

The three-time champion talked about his experiences at Indian Wells, which has a unique atmosphere for bringing fans closer to the players.