A look at what life was like back in 2004 for Fedal Ch. I

It sure was a different time on the ATP World Tour back in 2004, the year Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal first kicked off their longstanding rivalry. Many of the players contesting fourth-round matches at the BNP Paribas Open today were years away from making any kind of a dent on the main tour.

With Federer racing away with a 6-2, 6-3 Indian Wells fourth-round win over Nadal in their 36th meeting, here’s a look back at what things were like the year two of the game’s greatest players first met.

While Indian Wells has been the host city since 1987, the tournament sponsor has undergone some changes over the years. Back in ’04, the event was in its third year of being recognized as the Pacific Life Open, and the trophy was a huge whale. It would remain under that name through 2008, before BNP Paribas took over 2009.

By the time Federer and Nadal played their first match against each other, the Swiss had already built a career most players could only dream of having. He had reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time in early 2004, with two Grand Slam titles under his belt. Before his initial encounter with Nadal in Miami, Federer was coming off the 14th singles title of his career—in Indian Wells, where he beat Tim Henman in the final.

Of the 32 players that were seeded in Indian Wells back in 2004, only four of them are active today. Besides Nadal and Federer, two of Rafa’s compatriots—Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez—are still competing.

Nadal wasn’t the only Indian Wells fourth-round participant this year that was a teenager back then. The bulk of the remaining field was, save for 33-year-old Malek Jaziri and 35-year-old Federer, who were representing the older generation.

In 2004, Jack Sock was 11 years old, Dominic Thiem was 10 and Nick Kyrgios and Yoshihito Nishioka were just eight.

While Nadal might’ve been the most accomplished of the teen brigade back then, it’s not like some of them weren’t accustomed to success on the international level. For instance, Gael Monfils won the junior title at the Australian Open in ’04 (Federer captured the men’s event), while Donald Young reached the final of the Orange Bowl and won the Easter Bowl.