Roger Federer is set to play his first Tennis tournament after the milestone success he recently had in Dubai. The 100-time ATP tennis tournaments titlist is seeded fourth at the first Masters 1000 event of the calendar season.
Last year, the Swiss tennis superstar entered the event at Indian Wells trying to defend the title he had won back in 2017. He came one match short as he lost a three-set thriller in the final against Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine won't defend his title as a prolonged recovery from a knee injury hampered his efforts.
Currently ranked fourth in the world, 37-year-old Federer has a tough challenge ahead en route to a record-breaking sixth Indian Wells title.
Roger Federer shares half of the draw with Rafael Nadal
According to the official main draw, as a top-seeded player, Federer was given a bye for the opening round. His 2019 Indian Wells campaign will begin with facing either Andreas Seppi or Peter Gojowczyk. If he gets past the inaugural test, Federer may feature in an early all-around Swiss blockbuster with Stan Wawrinka looming for a potential third-round meeting.
The fourth round is still an early bet to make as that quarter of the draw has some interesting names in it. Frances Tiafoe and Fabio Fognini may be trying to make their own move in the Californian desert.
Tiafoe would love another deep run as he's been struggling since that breakthrough he had at the Australian Open back in January.
The quarterfinals may put Federer on a collision course with Kei Nishikori or Marin Cilic although they both have been struggling in the early stages of 2019. Rafael Nadal caps the other quarter of this half of the draw and another Federer vs.
Nadal clash is only possible if they both make it to the semis.
Federer spoke about superstar status, 100th ATP title
According to atpworldtour.com, Roger Federer offered some of his thoughts about life as a tennis superstar. During the interview, the 37-year-old spoke about how things go during a tournament. The fans love this kind of story as, at the end of the day, all that remains is that tennis players, regardless of their status, are as human as everyone else.
Federer also spoke about his recent title in Dubai and how that 100th ATP title bid went. He was happy to get that 100th title at the very first attempt. He also emphasized the fact that he never thought he would reach that number of ATP titles and the goal of actually getting to that milestone is less than a year old.
