It has been five years away from Indian Wells for Novak Djokovic, the owner of a record-equalling five BNP Paribas Open titles.
This fortnight, the Serbian makes his return as the top seed at the opening ATP Masters 1000 event of the year, where he is chasing a record-extending 41st crown at that level. Djokovic holds a 50-9 match record at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and he will look to reacquaint himself quickly with the desert conditions as he aims to move clear of his fellow five-time champion Roger Federer.
The third and final member of the ‘Big 3’ is set for a return of his own in ‘Tennis Paradise’. Rafael Nadal reached the championship match on his previous Indian Wells appearance in 2022, and the Spaniard will take on Milos Raonic in his first tour-level outing since he reached the quarter-finals in Brisbane in early January.
Two of the ATP Tour’s younger stars will hope to eclipse Djokovic and Nadal, however. Carlos Alcaraz seeks a repeat of his dominant run from a year ago, when he charged to the title without dropping a set, while the current in-form man on Tour is Jannik Sinner. The Italian is 12-0 for 2024 so far and will be full of confidence as he looks to maintain his hot streak under the California sun.
Photo/NovakDjokovic/X
ATP Tour weekly contributed to this column
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