5 Things We Learned About Nadal, Federer, Djokovic at the BNP Paribas Open

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California was a spectacular event for tennis fans and players alike.

We saw some remarkable runs throughout the course of the week, and many new names cemented themselves in the vast field of dangerous players.

Andy Murray was the only member of the Big Four not to make the semifinals as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer all booked their spots in the final four.

Federer was the only one to make the final, and he went on to win the entire tournament, dropping just two sets all week.

Here are five things we saw and learned from the three superstars this past weekend.

Rafa Still Does Not Have Roger's Number on Hard Courts

He is not the dominant rival on grass either. Clearly Rafa is the better clay-court player, and their head-to-head record is indicative of this.

However, Roger proved that he could rise to the occasion yet again against the tough Spaniard by using the foreign conditions and previous matches to his advantage.

It is never clear to pick the winner of these two when they set out to the court, but this time around seemed slightly different.

Federer Is Still the Overall Quickest Starter on Tour

The only match where Roger found his serve broken early on was the one where he faced Thomaz Bellucci and was enduring a sub-par day.

Once the second set began, his first serve percentage and forehand picked up dramatically, and he did not lose serve again.

He was once faced with a 0-40 game on his own serve and hit five straight unreturnable serves while breaking in the following game to close out the match.

Against Milos Raonic, he also lost the first set, but he did not lose his serve throughout the entire match.

Additionally, he found himself up an early break against Rafa, and when he lost it, he made sure to quickly take it right back.

Nole Does Not Seem to Have a Great Strategy Against Big Men

Against both Kevin Anderson and John Isner, Novak looked out of sorts.

Yes, he beat the South African quite handily, but he did not do a great job of neutralizing his opponent's serve. He also had difficulty holding serve himself because of this.

The same problem occurred against marathon-man Isner when he would get into long baseline rallies.

Typically, this is the proper thing to do since John's movement and weariness are big factors in his game.

However, Novak did not move the big man very much at all and simply made balls in the court without much thought behind his shots. John has become a much more consistent base-liner, and the two games where Djokovic was able to break the American came when his serve percentage dropped off and he gave off some unforced errors.

Nole should be taking bigger cuts at the ball and taking more chances after he gets the slower movers into baseline points. He is such a good player that he can typically get away with whatever he does, but it does take its toll every now and then, as it did in the case of the semifinal match.

Rafa Is Playing Better Against Skilled Double-Handed Backhands

As seen in his match against David Nalbandian, Nadal showed that he could take on the challenge of somebody who could handle his lefty, top-spin, cross-court forehand.

Perhaps this is good news for his future against Murray and Djokovic...

All Three Seem to Be in Good Shape for Miami

It has become increasingly tougher for people to break the Big Four apart, and even when somebody can pull off the upset, the double feat is seemingly too rare and tough.

Look for at least three of the Big Four to make the semifinals in Miami again.

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