In a sense, we have to feel for Bernard Tomic. Recent results suggest he's grown from his long history of immaturity. He played well in a straight-sets win against David Ferrer at Indian Wells and showed serious heart in the next round, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. And just as we were ready for Tomic's biggest challenge yet, a clash with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Tomic withdrew.
With tooth pain. OK, it's a little more than that. Tomic said he was having troubling breathing because of severe pain and inflammation on the right side of his face, a manifestation of a rogue wisdom tooth. Tomic also said he was experiencing back pain.
In any event, Djokovic reached the semifinals without breaking a sweat. We can only hope we'll see some riveting competition from here on out.
Here are five things we want to see in the last three days at Indian Wells.
Serena's final hurdle
A cursory look at her résumé suggests Serena has nothing left to accomplish. She's won every Grand Slam multiple times. Heck, she's been crowned doubles champion at each major as well. At 33, Serena is currently the oldest player to hold the world No. 1 ranking and hasn't ceded the top spot since February 2013. Her 109 straight weeks atop the rankings is the longest streak since Steffi Graf's 186-week run, which ended in 1991. However, conquering the Indian Wells title would be not only cathartic, but a true capstone on the most publicized returns we can remember. Granted, Serena won the Indian Wells title amid the 2001 episode that led to a 14-year boycott, but this time around, capturing this championship without the vitriol would be a Hollywood-like ending. Serena next faces No. 3 seed Simona Halep in Friday's semifinals.
Icons one win away from a scintillating semi
With one more win each, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet in a blockbuster semifinal. They haven't played since the Aussie Open semis last year, when Rafa overpowered Federer in three hasty sets. Granted, that match was more or less a microcosm of their career head-to-heads. Nadal leads the series 23-10, including five straight wins, but no matter how you slice their lopsided history, there's no matchup in today's game that's more hyped. Neither Federer nor Nadal has lost more than four games in any set through three rounds. On Wednesday, Federer served as well as he could have against Jack Sock. The Swiss didn't face a single break point. As for Nadal, his groundstrokes had vintage bite against Gilles Simon in a straight-sets win. We'd be remiss, however, if we didn't point out that Federer has to get by Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, while Nadal must subdue ace-maker Milos Raonic before this matchup even happens.
Other Big Four members ready to go at it again
If Federer and Nadal is the main attraction, Djokovic-Andy Murray is a sweet undercard. And the truth is, we're more likely to see a competitive match from them than we will between Federer and Nadal. Granted, the Serb has won his past five encounters against Murray, but the battles bring out the best in both players. Djokovic and Murray can win with power, defense and attrition. In the Aussie Open final, they split the first two sets in tiebreakers before the Serb ran away with the match. On the big stage, Murray won both his Grand Slam titles (US Open, 2012; Wimbledon, 2013) by beating Djokovic in the final. They're eminently similar players. We have no idea what to expect in Saturday's semifinals, except that Djokovic will have to extend a greater effort than he did against Tomic.
Djokovic seeking fourth title
Much like Serena, Djokovic has dominated men's tennis for a few years now. Our esteemed colleague, Peter Bodo, broke down the numbers here heading into Indian Wells. John Isner gave Djokovic some trouble Wednesday under the lights, in large part as a result of the American's unyielding first serve. Isner converted a remarkable 78 percent of his first deliveries. Djokovic, who is largely regarded as the best returner in the game, managed to break Isner twice. And that's saying something considering Isner lost a grand total of 12 points on his serve in his first two matches. The Serb is a three-time Indian Wells champ; last year he beat Isner and Federer in the semis and finals, respectively, to snare the title.
More tennis-ball controversy?
Nadal said the balls used at Indian Wells feel like "a stone" during the day, which can't be too arm-friendly. And let's be honest here: The last thing Nadal needs is another injury. An abdominal pull he suffered at the 2009 US Open aside, Nadal's maladies have all come from the knee down, so we need to keep his upper body healthy. Nadal went on to say the balls have caused error-prone tennis this week and that the fans deserve better. Five years ago, according to Nadal, the balls were fine. For what it's worth, Nadal lost in the Indian Wells semis that year. Perhaps there's some credence to Nadal's complaint, but the overall sentiment is that the ambient desert conditions have created problems. Murray said the balls bounce ridiculously high during the day, and at night, they're not as lively. Before facing Djokovic, Isner said he wished he was facing the world No. 1 during the day when the conditions are much faster. Alas, they played at night, and we saw how that one went down.