Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the wind might have been the most significant player. Strong gusts down the wide corridor between mountains where the tournament site is, whipped the already high-flying balls around in unpredictable ways to favor the most experienced players who rely least on their serves. The ATP wrapped up its round of 16, setting up exciting and unexpected quarterfinals.

Roger Federer will play Hyeon Chung for only the second time. Their previous match was at the Australian Open this year, but Chung retired at 6-1, 5-2 when blisters on his feet became unbearable. Federer was sympathetic to what happened to his younger competitor in their last encounter: “I can just imagine how much pain there is to it. You kind of want to go out and give it a shot, but then you probably shouldn't. You're just stuck in a situation which is hard. So, I felt for him.” Federer is prepared to face a healthier Chung in the rematch, saying “he played a great match today. I'm excited to play against him tomorrow.”

Borna Coric will face Kevin Anderson for a spot in the semifinal. Coric played a tough 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 match against Taylor Fritz Thursday morning, both players cutting through the wind by ripping the ball hard to move it baseline to baseline. Coric, who recently changed his coach, physio, and agent, was hesitant to say he has made a full comeback but is cautiously optimistic about his prospects. With a smile, he said: “So let's see how the next few months go and then I will tell you that I'm back, so you can write it even more.”

Coric has played Anderson three times, always on hard court, and Anderson leads that head-to-head 3:0. “I know what to expect. I know how he sort of plays. I have been watching him a little bit this week. Seems to be play very well, fighting very well, being aggressive from the baseline. For me the biggest thing is always focusing on playing my kind of tennis as much I can. I feel when I do that I give myself the best chance of having a good result.”

American Sam Querrey faces Milos Raonic. The two last met at Wimbledon in 2016 in a match Raonic won in four sets. Their head-to-head is an even 2:2. Raonic reached the round-of-16 with a victory over Joao Sousa but then received a walk-over in the when Marcos Baghdatis withdrew citing stomach issues. Raonic is happy with his game at this point but acknowledges there is still room to grow: “I think my game is there. I imagine it's just sort of putting the pieces together. I think I'm hitting the ball well in these kind of things. I think I'm 70%, 80% where I could be, so I'm pretty happy with how things are coming along. You know, I'm fighting well. That's all I can really ask of myself. I don't really know when the tennis things are going to click.”

Finally, Juan Martin Del Potro will face Philipp Kohlschreiber. Del Potro has beaten the German in six of their eight encounters. Kohlschreiber is feeling positive as he moves through the draw: “I feel like the level of tennis I played in the past weeks got better and better, and, okay, then luckily here all come together. I like the conditions. I like the weather. I think I played some good tennis here already in the past, so I know it could be a good tournament for me.” This is the first tournament of the year where he has been able to stitch together back to back wins. Del Potro has been struggling somewhat; he dropped the first set of his round-of-16 match against fellow Argentinian Leonardo Mayer, before taking the match with a final score of 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Temperatures had dropped significantly before his night match and coupled with high winds he struggled to find his way into the match. Despite the struggles in the first set of his last match, Del Potro is optimistic: “I'm healthy and I'm still playing good, and that gives me good confidence.”