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Italian star Flavia Pennetta said the best moment from winning the 2014 BNP Paribas Open was something she imagined about her parents.

Last year, Pennetta surprised people – including herself – when she upset top-seeded Li Na and the No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska on consecutive days to claim the biggest singles title in her career.

Pennetta’s parents were unable to come out to Indian Wells and instead watched their daughter’s matches at home in Italy.

Although Pennetta’s parents have a large screen to watch tennis on, her mother elected to watch on her iPod upstairs because of a superstition of not wanting to watch on the TV. Her father would watch in the living room with the big screen.

“They meet in the middle when I won,” a glowing, smiling Pennetta said Tuesday on the grounds of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, appearing relaxed and well-rested.

“They were screaming and just hug each other. I imagine it and I (it makes me laugh).”

Immediately after beating Radwanska for the title last year, Pennetta said when she called her father she had to tell him to breathe because he was so excited on the phone.

“Everyone was really happy. It was something no one was expecting,” said the Italian, who is 33. “(I was) not expecting something like this. It was really nice. It was a good moment to win something (this) big. I’m mature and you feel it more.”

It was Pennetta’s 10th singles title, but the BNP Paribas Open was her biggest win by far in what has been an impressive career: Back in 2009 she was Italy’s first player to crack the top 10 in 2009, and has helped lead the Italians to four Fed Cup titles. In doubles, she reached the No. 1 ranking in 2011, also a first for Italy, winning the Australian Open in 2011.

But Pennetta said her title in Indian Wells came at a special time. It was during the 2013 season that the veteran, in her 14th season on the WTA, considered retiring as she was struggling coming back from injuries. She gave herself the rest of 2013 to try to crack the top 100 and she did, finishing as world No. 29.

This year, Pennetta returns to the BNP Paribas Open under the radar. Much of the attention for the 2015 tournament has been on No. 1 Serena Williams, who has not played the BNP Paribas Open since 2001.

Pennetta said she likes it that way.

“For me, it’s perfect. I think Serena should play this tournament,” Pennetta said. “She’s one of the best…” Then, correcting herself: “She’s the best. She’s not one of them. She’s the best. And this is the best tournament and they should have her here.”

“It’s always going to have more attention to Serena and (No. 2 Maria Sharapova). They deserve to have all this attention.”

Not that Pennetta didn’t have some of her own attention. On Tuesday, the tournament unveiled the champion’s mural of Pennetta, a work of art that she called beautiful in her native Italian when she first laid eyes on it.

Now in the twilight of her career, Pennetta is one of the older players on the tour and is part of a growing group of over-30 players that women can play at a high level deep into her career.

Now that consideration of retirement seems far away: Pennetta said Tuesday she has no intention of quitting the game any time soon. But, there’s a limit, she added with a smile: She says she doesn’t have any intention of playing as long as 44-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.

“Kimiko is just Kimiko. She is the only one who can do something like that,” Pennetta said laughing. “I don’t put a date (to retire). I just want to play

“When I don’t care so much and I want to stay in the bed, or not take a plane, maybe that’s the moment to stop.”

Top-ranked Serena Williams will play her first match at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday night in her return to the tournament she has boycotted since 2001.

She will meet the winner of a first-round match between Monica Niculescu of Romania and Alexsandra Krunic of Serbia.

Williams brings an 11-match winning streak into the tournament she has won twice, including 2001. She received a wild card into this year's event and is the top seed on the women's side.

The draw projects Williams meeting third-ranked Simona Halep in the semifinals and second-ranked Maria Sharapova in the finals.

Williams also won the 1999 tournament for her first big title and later that year she won her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open as a 17-year-old.

Williams had repeatedly vowed never to return to Indian Wells after getting booed in 2001. She was to play a semifinal against sister Venus, who pulled out 20 minutes before the start with a knee injury. Serena was booed again while winning the final against Kim Clijsters. Her father said he heard racial slurs in the crowd.

Heading into the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, there's one dominant storyline: How will the weather hold up?

Kidding, of course. We all know what it is, but that won't detract from the excitement when Serena Williams plays her first match in the desert this week.

Can Williams win the event - 14 years after her last visit? The draw will obviously play a part, so let's take a closer look.

First Quarter: Serena, Plus A Fine Supporting Cast
The match between Monica Niculescu and Aleksandra Krunic won't just be any first round tussle. The winner takes on Williams in the second round following Serena's bye in round one.

Regardless of whether she faces the unorthodox Niculescu or all-action Krunic, it'll be a first head-to-head. Williams is likely to advance and then clash with a player who has impressively - and rather quietly - climbed the ranks the past two years, 28th seed Zarina Diyas.

Yet the fourth round is where things could get really interesting, since former finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova or Angelique Kerber may face the 19-time Grand Slam champ. Kuznetsova and Kerber are in need of wins, and the latter just split with her coach.

But if they get to the round of 16, they'll likely be in decent shape. Kuznetsova owns two wins over Williams and their last five matches have been close; Kerber topped Williams in 2012.

Though Williams garners most of the spotlight in this quarter, two players surging - and at career-highs in the rankings - feature and might go head-to-head in the fourth round, Timea Bacsinszky and Lucie Safarova.

Bacsinszky probably needs to get past Ekaterina Makarova (another who has toppled Serena) in the third round, with the Russian potentially playing doubles partner Elena Vesnina in round two.

Prediction: Williams def. Makarova

Second Quarter: Simona - And Others In Form
Of the eight seeds that surface in the second quarter, five are in good form - Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, Carla Suárez Navarro and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

A semifinalist last year, Halep will be hoping there are no aftereffects from the rib injury that forced her to withdraw as the defending champion in Doha. The first seed the Romanian could run into is Varvara Lepchenko, whose early season has been derailed by illness.

If recovered, the big-hitting Lepchenko won't be easy for Halep; she's collected some big wins on home soil.

Muguruza and Pliskova are two of the brightest prospects on the women's tour and a third round duel beckons. Pliskova prevailed in their three set slugfest in the semifinals in Dubai.

Suárez Navarro and Zahlavova Strycova might lack overwhelming power, but if they tangle in the third round, it'll be one to watch: Suárez Navarro likes to work the angles and still possesses a lovely one-handed backhand, while (the still feisty) Zahlavova Strycova doesn't lack in variety.

One seed here who isn't doing as well as planned is Agnieszka Radwanska. Lack of results, plus being last year's finalist, give the Pole a bit more pressure.

Perhaps having the Cheesecake Factory so close by can trigger a revival.

Prediction: Halep def. Zahlavova Strycova

Third Quarter: Woz, Bouchard On Collision Course?
As a former winner and finalist on two other occasions, Caroline Wozniacki certainly likes playing in Indian Wells. Jet lag might be an issue for the Dane early this week given she was in Malaysia over the weekend, but Woz won the title so, positively, she'll have momentum. And, it's a few days before Wozniacki contests her first match.

Wozniacki's mini-section is intriguing. Come the fourth round, if Wozniacki gets there, her possible opponents include Madison Keys, Jelena Jankovic or 2007 titlist Daniela Hantuchova. (Hantuchova, however, is 1-6 in her last seven in Indian Wells.)

Keys is the most dangerous player of the trio and makes her return to action after her breakthrough - at a Grand Slam, anyway - in Melbourne.

The young American, if the seeds hold, confronts Jankovic in the third round. More injuries have threatened to undo Jankovic's renaissance in 2014, but she won the title in 2010 and made the quarterfinals last year.

Higher up in the quarter sits Eugenie Bouchard. Speaking of injuries... Bouchard has only played one match since the Australian Open, exiting to Mona Barthel as the top seed in Antwerp.

Thus, more likely candidates to go deep are Andrea Petkovic and Alizé Cornet. They're potential combatants in the third round, a match that could linger.

Prediction: Wozniacki def. Petkovic

Fourth Quarter: An Early Blockbuster Between Maria And Vika?
As she continues to rebuild her ranking after last year's health woes, Victoria Azarenka is bound to get some tough draws in the early rounds. It's happened, in fact, at all three of her tournaments in 2015.

Indian Wells is another example, with the two-time Grand Slam winner expected to battle Maria Sharapova in the third round.

Yes, you might be thinking, it's also a tough draw for the second-seeded Sharapova, who is coming off an illness in Acapulco.

Azarenka can boast a 6-1 record against Sharapova on hardcourts, yet the Russian did emerge triumphant the last time they met on hardcourts at the WTA Finals in 2012.

If Sharapova or Azarenka progress past the third round, they'll have to be the heavy favorite to go all the way to the semifinals, even if defending champion Flavia Pennetta looms.

Pennetta's season looked like it was about to take off after she reached the quarterfinals in Dubai, but the Italian subsequently won only two games versus Radwanska in the second round in Doha. (She'd won their two previous matches.)

Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Garcia could square off for the second consecutive tournament - Garcia beat Ivanovic last week in Monterrey - in an open top half of the quarter.

- Maria Sharapova held off a late-match charge to win a third round blockbuster against Victoria Azarenka under the lights at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday night.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Indian Wells right here on wtatennis.com!

When the draw came out a week ago it was the match-up everyone was waiting for - both multiple Grand Slam champions, both former No.1s, both BNP Paribas Open winners too. And the rivalry couldn't have been closer, with Azarenka just edging Sharapova in 13 previous meetings, 7-6.

Things couldn't have been closer in the first set, with Sharapova rallying from a break down to take it in an hour and seven minutes, 6-4. Once that was out of the way she went into cruise control, storming out to a 5-1 lead in the second set - but that's when Azarenka's fighting spirit came very alive.

After breaking back to close the gap to 5-2, Azarenka fought off four match points in the next game and held to make it 5-3, and then fought off a fifth match point at 40-15 on the Sharapova serve.

The No.2-seeded Sharapova finished the No.32-seeded Azarenka on match point No.6, 6-4, 6-3.

"I think she played well. I have to give her credit. Obviously she's No.2 in the world for a reason," Azarenka said. "She was just more consistent than I was in the important moments. I created too many opportunities not to take them, and you just cannot afford to do that against a player like Maria."

"It's just great to see her back healthy and playing at a good level again," Sharapova said of the Belarusian. "She had a few comebacks last year, but it seems like she's really back on track now.

"I actually didn't feel like I played my best tennis. But I was competitive. I was there. I feel like I did everything I had to do in order to win the match, which is sometimes the most important thing."

At the very same minute - both matches finished at 9:05pm - No.15 seed Flavia Pennetta was booking her spot across from Sharapova in the fourth round, outdoing No.21 seed Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-2.

Pennetta is now on an eight-match winning streak at the BNP Paribas Open, winning six in a row to capture the biggest title of her career here a year ago, and adding two more wins to that total this year.

Sharapova and Pennetta are tied in their head-to-head, 2-2. All four career meetings have gone to three sets, and Pennetta has actually won their last two - they haven't played since 2011, though.