Indian Wells flashback: the 2014 edition (pics)

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Professional tennis seems just a sllightly bereft of star power, as it reloads in the wake of the end of the men’s Big 3 (although Novak Djokovic is still going) and the retirements of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, among others.

So, in flashing back to the 2014 edition of the BNP Paribas Open, that star power stood out, with the “Big 3” still at or near the peak of their careers. And all were present in the desert. Roger Federer even played doubles with Stan Wawrinka that year.

And on the Canadian side, 23-year-old Milos Raonic, who had missed a couple of months before Indian Wells, was there and ended up having a great season. 20-year-old Genie Bouchard was there, just months before she’d go on a tear through the draws at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

So sit back and enjoy this photo retrospective.

The big 3, or 4, or 5

The 2014 tournament featured all of the Big 3, plus Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka.

An All-Access Hour full of queens

the “top-eight” lineup in 2014 for the All-Access Hour at the BNP Paribas Open was QUEENLY: Radwanska, Sharapova, Li Na, Kerber, Azarenka, Halep, Kvitova, and queen Jelena Jankovic in her fabulous Tacchini dress.

Back when access was actually access, and it was worth the trip to the desert. Maybe you don’t fully appreciate what you had – in access, and with the queen factor – until it’s in the rear-view mirror.

Milos on a roll

Milos Raonic had been out since the Australian Open. But he returned at Indian Wells seemingly not having skipped a beat. As he often did.

Here he is after a tight first-round win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

He also played doubles with Ernests Gulbis (they lost to Federer and Wawrinka), and had some fun on the practice court.

Bouchard also on a roll

Back in 2014 in the desert, there were some dramatic moments on the practice court, an awkward baby moment, wins over Peng Suai and Sara Errani (No. 10 at the time) and a three-set loss to Simona Halep for Genie Bouchard.

A lot of Canuckian content

But it wasn’t just Raonic and Bouchard. There was plenty of other Canadian content including Peter Polansky, Sharon Fichman, Aleksandra Wozniak (who had a good tournament) and Vasek Pospisil. All of them are retired now. Crazy.

Canadian fans turn out

As they do every year in the desert, the Canadians show up in big numbers to cheer on their compatriots. 2014 was no exception.

Gone, but not forgotten

It’s been 11 years, but so many of the players who competed at the BNP Paribas Open in 2014 are out of the game now.

Can you name all these players?

They’re still around

At the same time, there are plenty of players who were young and starry-eyed back in 2014. But they’re still competing today.

Pennini: the early days

Flavia Pennetta was the surprise winner on the women’s side in 2014.

And there was a special guest in her box: fellow Italian player Fabio Fognini.

Fognini, then ranked No. 14 and fresh from the South American swing where he won the title in Viña del Mar (now defunct) and made the Buenos Aires final – beating Andujar and Robredo before losing to David Ferrer – and the Rio quarters, made the fourth round at Indian Wells.

But rather than head to Miami, he stuck around to support a fledgling romance.

After Pennetta won, he was a total grownup as he ….. liberally doused her with water.

And yet, she still married him. And they now have three kids.

And they said it wouldn’t last!

An effort, in vain, for Delpo

Juan Martin del Potro was still 4 1/2 years removed from the knee injury that basically finished his career. He was just 25.

But after starting the season by winning Sydney he arrived in the desert unsure if he would even play. He tried in doubles (with good pal Marin Cilic), hitting mostly one-handed backhands because of a wrist issue. But he never ended up playing singles and, indeed, didn’t play the rest of the season.

Same in 2015; he played just two tournaments.

Del Potro came back strong in 2016 and got back into the top 40, and back to the top 20 in 2017.
But his entire career is the story of “what might have been”

A lot of action on the field

As always, a popular spot at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is the grass field that’s in full view of the fans, where the players gather to stretch, play soccer, throw a football, and chat.

Here’s what it looked like in 2014.

The chair umpires – just kids!

Flash back 11 years, before 11 years of dealing with recalcitrant players, and here are the now-veteran crew of chair umpires.

Marija Cicak without a wisp of grey hair.

RIP

Since 2014, we’ve lost some quality tennis people.

First came noted player and coach Peter Lundgren, who was coaching Daniela Hantuchova back in 2014 but died just before last year’s US Open, at age 59. He had suffered from a number of health problems, including an infection caused by Type 2 diabetes that resulted in the amputation of his foot.

And there as Jiri Fenci, the longtime coach of Lucie Hradecka and also one of the creators of the Resultina app. He died Jan. 26, aged just 54.

And course, there is Peng Shuai of China, now 39, the former world No. 1 in doubles and o. 14 in singles who reached the US Open semifinals just six months after she played the 2014 edition of Indian Wells, losing to Bouchard in the second round.

Back in 2021, she essentially fell off the map, after a social media post, quickly deleted, that detailed sexual abuse from a high-ranking Chinese official. And except for a few staged appearances right after all this occurred, we haven’t seen her since. But we haven’t forgotten for a minute.