Spoiler:
Top ATP World Tour stars feature in doubles play on day two
• The bottom half of the main draw action at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday features four #NextGenATP players: American wild cards Taylor Fritz and Stefan Kozlov along with Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Borna Coric of Croatia.
• In the lone men’s singles match on Stadium 1, Frenchman Benoit Paire takes on Fritz for the first time. Fritz was the ATP Star of Tomorrow recipient last season for becoming the youngest player to finish in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 76. Fritz is trying to break a 13-match losing streak against Top 50 opponents. Paire is ranked No. 40.
• There are three matches on Stadium 2 with 2013-14 quarter-finalist Kevin Anderson of South Africa taking on Italian qualifier Federico Gaio, who is making his second ATP Masters 1000 tournament showing (2015 Rome). In the next match on, Dustin Brown of Germany meets British No. 2 Daniel Evans, who won the previous meeting 62 63 on Feb. 28 in the 1R of Dubai. In the last singles match, Americans Donald Young and Kozlov square off for the second time (Young leads 1-0). Kozlov, who turned 19 on February 1, is the youngest player in the draw. Young held that title often after breaking into the Top 100 at the age of 18. Now 27, Young already owns wins over all four 19-year-old Americans in the field: Kozlov, Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Reilly Opelka.
• In the opening match on Stadium 3, Russian #NextGenATP star Medvedev plays countryman Mikhail Youzhny.for the second time. Youzhny won in straight sets in the 2R in January 2016 at the Bangkok-2 Challenger en route to the title. Medvedev is the No. 2 Russian and he opened the season by reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final in Chennai (l. to Bautista Agut). In the next match on, British No. 3 Kyle Edmund meets Gastao Elias of Portugal for the first time.
• On Stadium 4, Coric takes on the top Swiss player not named Federer or Wawrinka: in No. 123rd-ranked qualifier Henri Laaksonen, who is making his Indian Wells debut.
• Also in first-round singles action are the Top 2 doubles players in the world: Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. Mahut meets Malek Jaziri and Herbert takes on Thomaz Bellucci. Their countryman Julien Benneteau faces Facundo Bagnis in a rematch from the 2014 Roland Garros first round, when the Argentine edged the Frenchman 18-16 in the fifth set.
• First round doubles play gets underway with five Top 10 singles stars in action. No. 1 Andy Murray (w/Evans) vs. No. 5 seeds Feliciano Lopez & Marc Lopez, No. 2 Novak Djokovic (w/Troicki) vs. Rohan Bopanna & Pablo Cuevas, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka (w/Dimitrov) vs. Treat Huey & Max Mirnyi, No. 6 Rafael Nadal (w/Tomic) vs. Pablo Carreno Busta & Joao Sousa, and No. 9 Dominic Thiem (w/Kohlschreiber) vs. Alexander & Mischa Zverev.
• The bottom half of the main draw action at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday features four #NextGenATP players: American wild cards Taylor Fritz and Stefan Kozlov along with Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Borna Coric of Croatia.
• In the lone men’s singles match on Stadium 1, Frenchman Benoit Paire takes on Fritz for the first time. Fritz was the ATP Star of Tomorrow recipient last season for becoming the youngest player to finish in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 76. Fritz is trying to break a 13-match losing streak against Top 50 opponents. Paire is ranked No. 40.
• There are three matches on Stadium 2 with 2013-14 quarter-finalist Kevin Anderson of South Africa taking on Italian qualifier Federico Gaio, who is making his second ATP Masters 1000 tournament showing (2015 Rome). In the next match on, Dustin Brown of Germany meets British No. 2 Daniel Evans, who won the previous meeting 62 63 on Feb. 28 in the 1R of Dubai. In the last singles match, Americans Donald Young and Kozlov square off for the second time (Young leads 1-0). Kozlov, who turned 19 on February 1, is the youngest player in the draw. Young held that title often after breaking into the Top 100 at the age of 18. Now 27, Young already owns wins over all four 19-year-old Americans in the field: Kozlov, Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Reilly Opelka.
• In the opening match on Stadium 3, Russian #NextGenATP star Medvedev plays countryman Mikhail Youzhny.for the second time. Youzhny won in straight sets in the 2R in January 2016 at the Bangkok-2 Challenger en route to the title. Medvedev is the No. 2 Russian and he opened the season by reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final in Chennai (l. to Bautista Agut). In the next match on, British No. 3 Kyle Edmund meets Gastao Elias of Portugal for the first time.
• On Stadium 4, Coric takes on the top Swiss player not named Federer or Wawrinka: in No. 123rd-ranked qualifier Henri Laaksonen, who is making his Indian Wells debut.
• Also in first-round singles action are the Top 2 doubles players in the world: Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. Mahut meets Malek Jaziri and Herbert takes on Thomaz Bellucci. Their countryman Julien Benneteau faces Facundo Bagnis in a rematch from the 2014 Roland Garros first round, when the Argentine edged the Frenchman 18-16 in the fifth set.
• First round doubles play gets underway with five Top 10 singles stars in action. No. 1 Andy Murray (w/Evans) vs. No. 5 seeds Feliciano Lopez & Marc Lopez, No. 2 Novak Djokovic (w/Troicki) vs. Rohan Bopanna & Pablo Cuevas, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka (w/Dimitrov) vs. Treat Huey & Max Mirnyi, No. 6 Rafael Nadal (w/Tomic) vs. Pablo Carreno Busta & Joao Sousa, and No. 9 Dominic Thiem (w/Kohlschreiber) vs. Alexander & Mischa Zverev.
