By Erik Gudris | Monday, March 10, 2014

 

Rafael Nadal will look to improve his form on Monday as Ana Ivanovic takes on Sloane Stephens in a marquee night match at the BNP Paribas Open.

Photo Credit: Christopher Levy

Fans making their way into the BNP Paribas Open on Monday will have a hard time deciding what matches to check out as a plethora of stars find themselves facing off against each other. Here's a quick preview of what to expect.

Nadal Gets Rio Rematch Against Dolgopolov

After surviving a stern test from wily Radek Stepanek in his opening match, defending champion Rafael Nadal will get another one when he meets Alexandr Dolgopolov. These two faced off a few weeks ago in the Rio final.

Though Nadal won that one handily, Nadal's concerns about his back continue as he will try to navigate the funky firepower of Dolgopolov.

Double Serving of Federer

Roger Federer will be doing double duty today as he will first meet No. 27 seed Dmitry Tursunov in singles. Then, Federer partners up with Stanislas Wawrinka as they take on the unlikely, but so far effective team of Ernests Gulbis and Milos Raonic later in the afternoon.

WTA Dream Lineup

If you like women's tennis, you'll love Monday's lineup, which features big names facing each other.

Perhaps the most intriguing one will be another nighttime meeting between No. 11 seed Ana Ivanovic against No. 17 seed Sloane Stephens. With Ivanovic having won both their earlier matches, each taking place at the U.S. Open, Stephens will be looking to generate some momentum aside from her usual solid recent results at the majors.

No. 4 seed Maria Sharapova will take on rising Italian talent Camila Giorgi in an intriguing first ever meeting. No. 8 seed Petra Kvitova will seek her third win over the always dangerous No. 27 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Fognini Duels Monfils on Stadium 2

Perhaps the match of the day could well be between two of the sport's best and brashest showmen in Fabio Fognini and Gael Monfils. Fognini continues to garner praise and criticism for his meltdown the other night at umpire Mohamed El Jennati during a second round match with Ryan Harrison.

For his part, Monfils is playing stellar tennis so far this season. With this head to head tied at 2-2, expect shotmaking fireworks that will have you expressing praise in several languages.

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