Indian Wells is already one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, but this year's event is likely to catapult its way into Grand Slam-esque notoriety.
Why, you ask? OK, that's more or less a rhetorical question. By now, we know Serena Williams is going to end a 13-year boycott and return to the venue that was home to one of the ugliest tennis chapters we can remember, when in 2001 the Indian Wells crowd smattered her with jeers and racial epithets, stemming from her older sister Venus' withdrawal the day before.
Moments before the start of what was supposed to be an arresting all-Williams sisters semifinal showdown at Indian Wells, Venus pulled out, citing tendinitis. The fans, who were already in place for the match, became deliriously angry -- many of them buying into the idea that the result was fixed and that the sisters' father, Richard, had orchestrated the winner.
A few days later, Richard said the crowd's acrimony was racially motivated, an accusation Serena later backed up with some grisly detail.
Anyway, the bottom line here is that Serena has decided to let bygones be exactly that, a cathartic choice from a player who once vowed she'd never return to Indian Wells. Thus, we get to see the world No. 1 and recently crowned Aussie Open champ make her return to this event for the first time since she was 19 years old.
With that, here are five storylines to watch exactly one week out from the onset of the desert crucible in Southern California.
Serena's results matter
Fourteen years is a long time to harbor ill feelings, and while the overwhelming storyline will focus on the crowd's reaction toward Serena and Serena's subsequent response, we should point out that Indian Wells is an eminently important tournament on the schedule. It's one of only four Premier Mandatory events on the WTA calendar, which means potentially 1,000 rankings points are at stake. As it stands, Maria Sharapova, the No. 2 player in the world, trails Serena by about 1,400 points, so the American isn't in any danger of losing her top billing, but a little extra buffer would be nice. After all, last year Serena labored for a good part of the season, especially during the clay-court swing (which starts in a month). She fell in her Charleston opener, lost early in Madrid and (in)famously suffered a hasty 6-2, 6-2 loss to Garbine Muguruza in the second round at the French Open. It goes without saying, some momentum at Indian Wells would be nice as Serena heads into the next part of the season.
Federer eying revenge
OK, so perhaps "revenge" is slightly embellished, because seriously, the guy has nothing left to prove. After winning Davis Cup last season, Federer has accomplished everything the sport has to offer outside of a gold medal in singles. (But that's fodder for next year.) However, last season, redemptive as it was for Federer, still had its share of disappointments, including a third-set tiebreaker loss to Novak Djokovic in the Indian Wells final. And though Federer, who is just about as young a 33-year-old tennis player as there is, appears to have plenty of top-level tennis left, you have to imagine events like Indian Wells, which hosts the best players in the world, will be harder for him to navigate his way through consistently. Federer is a four-time champ in the desert, and a fifth would be instrumental in his 2015 campaign, since the world No. 2 has decided to eschew Miami (and its potential 1,000 rankings points), which starts right after Indian Wells.
Serena seeking a legit rival
Quick, raise your racket if you remember who won the Indian Wells women's event last season. Too late! We're guessing you didn't come up with Flavia Pennetta, who became the third oldest, and unlikeliest, winner in the tournament's history with a thorough beatdown of Agnieszka Radwanska in the final. Pennetta was a great story, but one that likely won't repeat itself -- which begs the question: If not Pennetta, then who? We hate to revisit the anarchic state of the WTA because it's borderline trite and not totally accurate, but the biggest non-Serena names all have question marks. Sharapova just pulled out of Acapulco with a stomach virus, Petra Kvitova has done nothing since opening up the season with a title in Sydney, and others such as Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchard and Radwanska (the Nos. 5-8-ranked players) have played both brilliant and mediocre tennis in recent months. Which leaves us with world No. 3 Simona Halep. The Romanian had a breakthrough season a year ago and recently won a title in Dubai. Smart money says she might leave Indian Wells with some new hardware, but still, we'd encourage anyone to hedge before placing any serious coin on her. And if not Halep, former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka could make a nice run in the desert. She played well in Qatar last week, beating Angelique Kerber, Wozniacki and Venus Williams en route to the final.
Outsiders truly are the outsiders
Look at this list of names (it won't take long, worry not): Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer. Those are the only players outside the game's ballyhooed Big Four who have won a Masters 1000 event since the start of 2011. If you're keeping score, that's four years and 36 events -- and only that triumvirate has unearthed whatever strategy it takes to knock off Djokovic, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. We've long lauded their dominance in Grand Slam play, but they've been equally as commanding in the Masters events. Some might argue that these tournaments, of which there are nine during the season, are more daunting than majors since the top players generally encounter tough opponents from the outset. Further, the tennis calendar does few favors. Events such as Indian Wells and Miami, and then later in the year Madrid and Rome, and finally Canada and Cincinnati, are played back-to-back, leaving players with little time to recover while changing venues, climates and court conditions. Based on the way things have materialized early in 2015, with Djokovic winning the Aussie and Federer and Nadal coming off title runs this past weekend, it looks like this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
The one thing we really, really, really want to see is ...
Outside of Serena having a warm welcome back, the tennis landscape aches for the return of Juan Martin del Potro. We don't know if he'll be back in time for Indian Wells yet, as he told reporters, "I'm in full recovery. I'm going faster than the time frame the doctor set for me as a goal and that has me enthused and that's why I believe my return will be very soon." Of course, if del Potro does come back, it's unlikely he'd join the lucky outsiders from the previous section as victors anytime too soon, but the faster the hulking 6-foot-6 Argentine does return, the better off the tennis matrix will be. Del Potro is still young at 26, and given the copious time he's missed in recent years, his legs are likely quite a bit younger. Plus, there's that champions pedigree thing he has going on, if you can remember as far back as his emphatic 2009 US Open performance. Two years ago, del Potro reached the Indian Wells final, one of the last great runs he went on before another wrist injury sidelined him.