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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are two of the biggest names in men’s tennis, and all eyes will be on whether we get a first meeting of 2026 between the two at Indian Wells this fortnight.

Alcaraz and Sinner are the top two seeds at the opening Masters 1000 event of the season, and this will be the third tournament of the year for both.

With Alcaraz looking to maintain his unbeaten start to the year and Sinner searching for his first title of 2026, we look at the projected pathways both men potentially face on their way to a potential final against each other in Tennis Paradise.

Alcaraz’s projected pathway

Round 1: Bye

Round 2: Alcaraz will face an interesting opener against either Terence Atmane or Grigor Dimitrov, who meet in round one. World No 52 Atmane beat Dimitrov in Acapulco last week, so he may enter his round-one match as the favourite.

Round 3: The first seeded player Alcaraz could face is Arthur Rinderknech, who is seeded 26th in Indian Wells. Alcaraz defeated Rinderknech at the Qatar Open just last month and holds a 5-0 record against the Frenchman.

Round 4: Alcaraz’s projected fourth-round opponent is 13th seed Casper Ruud, an opponent he has beaten in five of their six meetings. 24th seed and Shanghai Masters champion Valentin Vacherot is also a potential opponent at this stage.

Quarter-final: Sixth seed Alex de Minaur is the Spaniard’s projected quarter-final opponent, with the Australian having never beaten Alcaraz in six previous attempts. Tenth seed Alexander Bublik is also a potential rival for the world No 1 at this stage.

Semi-final: Should Alcaraz return to the semi-final, he could well end up facing third seed and five-time champion Novak Djokovic. The head-to-head between the two is level at 5-5, though the Spaniard beat Djokovic in both the 2025 US Open semi-final and 2026 Australian Open final.

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Final: If Alcaraz were to reach the final, his projected opponent is second seed Sinner.

Sinner’s projected pathway

Round 1: Bye

Round 2: Sinner now knows that he will start his campaign against qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, who beat James Duckworth in round one. It will be the first meeting between the world No 2 and the Czech, who is currently ranked 109th in the world.

Round 3: The first seeded player in Sinner’s projected pathway is 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who recently won his first ATP Tour title at the Rio Open. However, the Argentine faces a tough round-two encounter against Denis Shapovalov.

Round 4: Projected to be waiting for the Italian in round four is 16th seed Karen Khachanov, who is now safely in Indian Wells after being stranded in Dubai. This is an intriguing mini-section of the draw, with Joao Fonseca and 23rd seed Tommy Paul all potential opponents for Sinner at this stage.

Quarter-final: Sinner has been handed, on paper, arguably the perfect quarter-final draw against eighth seed Ben Shelton, a player he has a 9-1 head-to-head advantage over. However, the Italian could also find himself facing 12th seed Jakub Mensik — the man who beat him in Doha.

Semi-final: Should Sinner progress to the semi-final, he is projected to be facing fourth seed Alexander Zverev. He has won his last five meetings against the German, with fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti and ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime also potential semi-final opponents for Sinner.

Final: Sinner is projected to face Alcaraz in the final, in what would be a battle of the top two seeds.

Indian Wells records

World No 1 Alcaraz has an impeccable record in Indian Wells, winning 20 of his 23 career matches at the Masters 1000 tournament.

The Spaniard lost in the opening round on debut in 2021 but has reached at least the semi-final every year since then, lifting the title in 2023 and 2024.

Jack Draper ended Alcaraz’s 16-match win streak at the tournament in the last four in 2025, and he will be looking to regain his title.

Meanwhile, Indian Wells is the only hard-court Masters event where Sinner is yet to win the title, or even reach the final.

The Italian is a two-time semi-finalist at the tournament, but was beaten by Alcaraz at that stage in both 2023 and 2024.

Sinner was not in action at the event twelve months ago, with the world No 2 serving a three-month suspension at the time.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero has revealed why he unfollowed Carlos Alcaraz on social media following the pair’s split and expressed his wish to have a conversation with the world No 1.

Alcaraz and Ferrero parted ways during the off-season in December, bringing an end to a high-profile and hugely successful player-coach relationship that began in 2018, when Alcaraz was 16.

The Spanish star won 24 ATP Tour singles titles, including six Grand Slams, while working with Ferrero — who is a former world No 1 and French Open champion.

Since splitting with Ferrero, Alcaraz has amassed a 12-0 record by winning the Australian Open and Qatar Open in a sensational start to 2026.

Samuel Lopez, who coaches at Ferrero’s academy, is now Alcaraz’s head coach, having previously worked in tandem with Ferrero.

Days after Alcaraz completed the career Grand Slam by claiming his maiden Australian Open title, fans noticed that Ferrero had unfollowed his former protégé on Instagram. Interestingly, Alcaraz is still following Ferrero.

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Ferrero breaks his silence on cutting ties with Alcaraz on social media

In an interview with El Cafelito, Ferrero explained he wanted to “separate” himself from Alcaraz on social media and declared he did not make the decision “out of spite.”

“I don’t follow him because I need a little time, to separate myself from him,” said Ferrero.

“Besides, if I look at Instagram, he pops up everywhere. In the end, I haven’t achieved anything. You follow tennis accounts and tournament accounts, and it’s the same.

“I didn’t do it out of spite. I want to see him and give him a hug. To normalise everything that’s happened, I think we still need to have a conversation. I’d like that.”

Alcaraz speaks about playing Indian Wells without Ferrero as his coach

Speaking to Eurosport, Alcaraz addressed being without Ferrero at the 2026 Indian Wells Masters.

“I would say it is what it is,” said the world No 1.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t say it’s a new team. It’s mostly the same members; we just restructured a little bit. The members are the same as before; we’re just missing one.

“Every time I come back to a tournament I played last year, it feels a little bit different. You can feel it a bit, but we try to feel as comfortable as possible on and off the court.”

Alcaraz will face Grigor Dimitrov or Terence Atmane in his opening match in Indian Wells, where he is seeking a third title after triumphs in 2023 and 2024.

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Emma Raducanu’s constantly changing position with her coaches may be offering her some unexpected benefits, according to Sky Sports lead commentator Johnathan Overend.

The 2021 US Open champion disposed of her latest coach after the Australian Open, as she hinted the tactics being promoted by Francisco Roig did not align with her ambitions.

Now she is preparing to head into a crucial month that will include two marquee WTA 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami with former coach Mark Petchey back in her camp on a temporary agreement.

The changing complexion of Raducanu’s set-up has sparked suggestions that she lacks clarity in the direction her career is headed, but Overend has offered up an alternative view.

“The two sides of my brain keep arguing with each other over what the best thing is for Emma and her coaching situation,” Overend told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.

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“I think it’s a very obvious stance in a way, to say, what is she doing? What is this? 
That looks chaotic. It looks chaotic. This is madness. 
And it feels chaotic. I’m sure there is an element of the operation of Emma Raducanu PLC which is chaotic, but who are we from the outside to say it’s ultimately a bad thing?

“If she goes and wins a big tournament again, in a few months time, everyone will be saying, fair play.

“What I kind of quite like about it is the analogy of having a different teacher at every stage of your education.

“You don’t have the same teacher all the way through. You have a teacher one year, and you might say, ‘I really like Miss Green, because she taught me that’. 
And then, Mr. Edwards brought me so much encouragement there, and then I had Mrs. Singh, and she taught me this great lesson in life.

“So I quite like that, in a way. If she is holding on to those best practises and those best tips from all these advisors that she’s bringing in, that would be positive.

“To me, it’s getting the relationship. 
It’s getting the strategy that she feels can get the results, and then sticking to it.

“She needs to find an advisor who can help her with the technical improvement she still needs to make in a game, of which there are a fair few. And I’d like to think that she admits that. But who can encourage her to play the way she feels most comfortable playing? She needs to be playing with freedom.”

Raducanu has suggested she is keen to hit with power from the back of the court, as she believes that give her the best chance to challenge the game’s elite players.

That method worked for her when she won the US Open over four-and-a-half years ago, but Overend is not sure it can be effective now.

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“The quote in Australia, when she’s talking about, I just want to hit it hard and flat into the corners,” he added. “It might not work in reality, but you do want her to be talking in that way about the rest of her game.

“You want to see that she’s had the discussion with the coach and they’ve agreed this is the way forward. 
And I want her to feel that that’s a strategy that she will enjoy executing.

“It fell under Roig that she didn’t really enjoy taking the strategy and bringing it onto the match court, and that is a recipe for disaster.

“So it’s about finding that coach who can help her with those changes, but also bring the strategy that is aligned with her desire to have fun on the court.

“I think if you can somehow find the middle ground, which is what I believe she’s searching for, if she can find that middle ground, then big things can still happen in Raducanu’s career.

“I’m still very positive in the Raducanu story because this is a player who’s gone from outside 300, inside the top 30, without having a result that makes you go, wow.

“Any player who’s gone from 300 to 30, you’d say good effort. 
Really well done. So why aren’t we saying that more about Emma Raducanu? I agree. 
It’s because of what happened in 2021. And that will forever be her greatest achievement, but also be the thing that people will… will judge you by. And you want to almost wish it never happened, and erase it from the memory.”

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The ATP Tour has released a statement to give an update on players who were in the United Arab Emirates amid conflict in the Middle East.

On Saturday, the United States and Israel launched military action on Iran, and the latter retaliated by attacking various American bases in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates.

The situation in the Middle East led the UAE to close its airspace at 1pm local time on Saturday, which prevented over 40 ATP players, staff and officials from leaving Dubai on flights after the ATP 500 tournament.

Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov were among the players unable to depart from Dubai, with the Russian trio instead opting to travel to Oman by car to catch a “special flight” to Turkey.

On Tuesday, the ATP Tour cancelled this week’s Challenger Tour tournament in Fujairah in the UAE, as well as another event at the same venue scheduled for next week.

The decision was made after there was an explosion following the interception of a drone around eight miles from the site of the tournament.

According to The Athletic, the ATP told players who had signed up for the Fujairah events that it would “potentially” be organising a charter flight from Muscat in Oman costing $5,800 per passenger. The ATP then clarified that it was not organising the flight “directly.”

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The men’s tour faced a backlash, with Belarusian player Ilya Ivashka — who was competing in Fujairah — criticising the governing body for its response.

On Wednesday, though, the ATP announced it would cover the costs for all players in Fujairah to leave the region.

In a statement, the ATP said: “Following the cancellation of the ATP Challenger Tour events in Fujairah, the ATP has been working closely with tournament organisers to support players on site.

“Accommodation and essential needs continue to be covered by the tournament, and a charter flight has been arranged and fully funded by the ATP to assist with departures from the region at no cost to players.”

After the ATP’s update, Ivashka took to Instagram to describe the men’s tour as a “class act.

“Just got a confirmation that all the people from the tournament in Fujairah will be evacuated with no cost,” Ivashka wrote.

“Everything completely covered. Class act @atptour.”

On the players who were stuck in Dubai following last week’s tournament, the ATP added: “Separately, the vast majority of players who were in Dubai have successfully departed today on selected flights.

“The safety and wellbeing of our players, support teams and staff members remains our highest priority, and we continue to remain in close contact with those affected.”

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Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov have completed the first few legs of their mad rush to get to the United States in time for the Indian Wells Open.

The trio competed in the Dubai Tennis Championships last week with the tournament coming to a conclusion on Saturday with Medvedev lifting the title, but celebrations were lowkey as his opponent Tallon Griekspoor withdrew from the final due to injury.

But things took a turn for the worse after that as Israel and the United States’ air strikes on Iran had a ripple effect with the Middle East country retaliating with attacks on American bases across the Gulf, including Dubai.

It led to airspace closures and flight cancellations, resulting in major travel disruptions with those in the United Arab Emirates unable to leave and make their way to California for the next event, the Indian Wells Open.

The ATP confirmed that more than 40 players, staff, officials and journalists were stuck in Dubai with the Russian trio among them.

After initially being urged to remain in their hotels until flights resume, they were then given the all-clear to travel by car and they set off on a gruelling drive to the Oman border before heading to Turkey via a “special flight”.

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According to the Russian site Sports.ru, Rublev’s mother, Marina Marinenko, gave RIA Novosti the following update: “I am waiting for Andrey to call me when he arrives in Istanbul. A special flight was organised for Medvedev, Khachanov and Rublev’s team.

“They flew out of Oman at 4pm, and I am waiting for a call when they arrive in Istanbul, from where the guys will fly to Los Angeles. They said the flight would take six hours and 30 minutes.

“If I’m not mistaken, the ATP helped with the arrangements. They didn’t allow the flight to take off for a long time,” RIA Novosti quoted Marienko as saying.

She later added: “They have arrived in Istanbul.”

Medvedev, Rublev and Khachanov are all set to play in the main draw of the season-opening ATP Masters 1000 event in California with first-round matches starting on Wednesday.

However, there is good news for the trio as they are seeded so have byes into the second round with their matches scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

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Carlos Alcaraz holds a healthy lead over his big rival Jannik Sinner at the top of the ATP Rankings, but an alternative lists suggests the Italian is a step ahead of the Spaniard.

Alcaraz cemented his position at the top of the ATP Rankings with a stunning at the Australian Open in January, with Sinner suffering a shock defeat as he lost against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

That loss for Sinner ended a run of three straight Grand Slam finals contested between Alcaraz and Sinner and the duo will be looking to re-establish their dominance when they return to action at this week’s Indian Wells Masters event.

The ATP 1000 tournament is one of the showpiece moments of the tennis year and Sinner will have a big chance to close the gap Alcaraz has opened up on him in the ATP Rankings.

Sinner missed Indian Wells and the Miami Open event that follows it in March last year as he was serving a doping suspension, so all the points he collects in these two events this year will bolster his current ranking.

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He won’t have a chance to overtake Alcaraz in the ATP Rankings until the middle of this year, but he has been given a boost on the eve of the Indian Wells tournament after it was confirmed he is world No 1 in an alternative rankings list.

The UTR rankings are calculated using a different method to the traditional ATP list, with current form and the ranking of your opponent taken into account when the final analysis is made.

The method for calculating the UTR ratings differs greatly from the rolling ATP list, which ranks players based on the points they collect over 52 weeks.

Victories against higher-ranked played are worth more in the UTR list than the official ATP or WTA ranking, meaning they offer up a more accurate reflection of the current form at the top of the game.

The UTR rankings are based on the current form from the last few weeks and months rather than reflecting results that occurred up to a year ago, with the system created to promote fair and competitive play across the tennis world.

All players, regardless of age, gender, geography, or skill level, are rated on the same scale between 1.00 and 16.50 based on actual match results.

The UTR rankings have been endorsed by 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who has suggested they may offer a more accurate reflection of the current form in the game.

Alcaraz and Sinner have been swapping positions in the UTR Rankings for the last couple of years, but it is the latter who has claimed top spot despite a couple of defeats at the start of 2026.

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Sinner will be keen to reaffirm his aura as he returns to Indian Wells, with former British No 1 Tim Henman suggesting the route to tactics required the Italian are tough to execute.

“The way to play Sinner is very easy when you talk about it. Your serve aces and you hit winners,” said Henman, speaking exclusively to Tennis365.

“That is easier said than done, of course, and the reason there is a gap between Alcaraz and Sinner is their level is so consistently high.

“What we saw at the Australian Open was the difference between Alcaraz and Sinner in their two matches against Novak Djokovic.

“Sinner has been the best player on hard courts for the last couple of years and even when Djokovic was pushing him, he didn’t change his game. He backed himself to win and he came up short.

“He tried to fight fire with fire and was just going for it. If anything, that played into Djokovic’s hands.

“Then you look at the final against Alcaraz and when Djokovic wins the first set 6-2, you are thinking maybe this can happened and Grand Slam No 25 is coming for Djokovic, but Alcaraz did have the variation in his game to change his tactics and he turned the match around.

“He started playing with more height on the ball, used his slice backhand and found a way to win.”

Sinner is in the bottom half of the Indian Wells draw and he could face big-serving American Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.

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Main draw action in Indian Wells is just days away, though uncertainty still looms over whether a handful of players will be able to make it to California on time.

Amid the emergence of conflict in the Middle East, several ATP Tour players and staff members have been stuck in Dubai since Saturday, with Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev among them.

World No 16 Karen Khachanov is also thought to still be in Dubai, but there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to what his current plans are — and whether he will be able to compete in Indian Wells.

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What we know

Khachanov was one of several players in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week, with the world No 16 falling in the second round of the ATP 500 event to Jenson Brooksby.

Though his campaign came to an end, the Russian did not immediately leave Dubai to head to Indian Wells, where the opening Masters 1000 event of the season will be held this week.

Khachanov is a resident of Dubai alongside his wife and young family, and was still in the city when the conflict began on Saturday.

ATP Tour players and staff connected to the Dubai Tennis Championships were unable to leave the city, with flights to and from the city’s airport stopped — and, as of Tuesday, they have only partially resumed.

Khachanov’s compatriots, Dubai champion Medvedev and semi-finalist Rublev, were reportedly set to leave Dubai via car on Monday, driving to Oman before a private jet flight to Turkey or Armenia, and then a further flight to California.

Medvedev and Rublev have now been forced out of the Eisenhower Cup, a mixed doubles exhibition event being held in Indian Wells on Tuesday night.

Where is Khachanov?

Khachanov’s location is not fully known, though it would appear that the 29-year-old has not been unable to make it to Indian Wells yet.

The world No 16 was provisionally on Tuesday’s practice schedule at the Masters 1000 event, with the Russian set to hit with Ben Shelton.

However, this session has since been removed from the practice schedule, heavily implying that Khachanov is not yet in Indian Wells.

There is no official confirmation, but it seems more than likely that Khachanov is still in Dubai, meaning his Indian Wells participation could well be hanging in the balance.

On Monday afternoon, Russian tennis journalist Sofya Tartakova reported that Khachanov was still in Dubai — though almost 24 hours have passed since this point.

Khachanov is the 16th seed in Indian Wells and, as one of the 32 seeded players in the men’s singles draw, has the luxury of an opening-round bye at the event.

That means that he will not be in round-one action on Wednesday or Thursday, giving him two extra days to safely make it to Indian Wells before the start of his campaign.

Currently, he is set to face either Joao Fonseca or Raphael Collignon in the second round.

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A Wimbledon winner has joined the list of players to withdraw from the 2026 Indian Wells Open, while uncertainty remains over the participation of a trio of stars who were stuck in Dubai.

By Monday, 15 players had pulled out of Indian Wells across both the women’s and men’s singles events, and that number has now grown to 17.

The combined ATP/WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells is one of the most prestigious competitions in tennis and is often described as the fifth Grand Slam.

Indian Wells is the first Masters 1000 event on the ATP Tour calendar and the third 1000 event of the WTA Tour season after the back-to-back tournaments in Doha and Dubai in February.

The Indian Wells Open, which is sponsored by BNP Paribas, was founded in 1974, and the 2026 edition will be the 52nd edition of the men’s event and the 37th edition of the women’s tournament.

Main draw action at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden — a facility near Palm Springs, California known as Tennis Paradise — will take place from 4 to 15 March.

The reigning singles champions are Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva, who each secured their maiden Indian Wells titles in 2025.

Both the men’s and women’s singles draws at the Indian Wells Open feature 96 players, including 32 seeds — who each receive an opening round bye.

WTA Indian Wells withdrawal list

Former world No 6 Marketa Vondrousova has battled a host of injury issues in recent years, and she is the seventh woman to withdraw from Indian Wells.

Vondrousova, a Wimbledon champion in 2023, is the second Grand Slam winner to pull out after her Czech compatriot and former world No 2 Barbora Krejcikova — who won the 2021 French Open and the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.

• Lois Boisson (world No 37) – replaced by Oksana Selekhmeteva
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto (world No 42) – replaced by Camila Osorio
• Marketa Vondrousova (world No 46) – replaced by Kimberly Birrell
• Barbora Krejcikova (world No 53) – replaced by Zhang Shuai
• Veronika Kudermetova (world No 56) – replaced by Zeynep Sonmez
• Daria Kasatkina (world No 60) – replaced by Rebecca Sramkova
• Wang Yafan (world No 355 – entered with protected ranking) – replaced by Ella Seidel

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ATP Indian Wells withdrawal list

There are now 10 players who have withdrawn from the men’s event in Indian Wells, including Holger Rune and Tallon Griekspoor — both of whom would have been seeded.

World No 106 Pedro Martinez is the latest man to pull out.

• Holger Rune (world No 18) – replaced by Quentin Halys
• Tallon Griekspoor (world No 25) – replaced by Roberto Bautista Agut
• Jaume Munar (world No 36) – replaced by Aleksandar Kovacevic
• Tomas Machac (world No 50) – replaced by Emilio Nava
• Lorenzo Sonego (world No 61) – replaced by James Duckworth
• Eliot Spizzirri (world No 78) – replaced by Alexander Shevchenko
• Alexandre Muller (world No 81) – replaced by Jan-Lennard Struff
• Filip Misolic (world No 84) – replaced by Adam Walton
• Pedro Martinez (world No 106) – replaced by Jacob Fearnley
• Shang Juncheng (world No 261 – entered with protected ranking) – replaced by Juan Manuel Cerundolo

Uncertainty over Dubai trio

Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev are in the Indian Wells men’s draw, and they are seeded 11th, 16th and 17th respectively.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Russian trio will compete in California after they were all stuck in Dubai following the ATP 500 event last week amid conflict in the Middle East.

With flights from Dubai cancelled due to the UAE closing its airspace, it was reported that Medvedev and Rublev were planning to travel to Oman by car to take a private jet out of the country, with the intention of still playing in Indian Wells.

It is unclear whether Khachanov has attempted a similar journey.

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Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev have been told that “tennis is not such a big deal” and they would be better off staying in Dubai instead of rushing to the United States.

The duo are due to participate in the Indian Wells Open later this week, but they are still stranded in the United Arab Emirates after their flights out of the country were cancelled following the escalation of the Middle East conflict.

Just hours after the tournament ended on Saturday, airspace in the region was closed due to Israel and the United States’ military action against Iran. The latter then launched a counter initiative as they bombed several American bases, including in the UAE.

Several buildings in Dubai were hit and those in the country were told to stay indoors with the ATP confirming that about 40 players, officials, staff and journalists were still in the country following the ATP 500 event.

To complicate matters, Medvedev and Rublev are due to fly to the United States as they are scheduled to compete in the Indian Wells Open on Friday or Saturday.

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With no flights out of the country, the pair were given alternative travelling options by ATP officials with Spanish publication Marca saying one of those was a long drive to neighbouring Oman where they would take a private flight to Turkey or Armenia before heading to the United States.

However, former world No 8 John Isner urged the pair to make sure they are safe instead of travelling by car.

Speaking on the Nothing Major Show podcast, Isner said: “Around 40 ATP players, officials and staff stuck in Dubai following the conflict in the Middle East right now as flights out of the UAE are cancelled. Among those players at the top of the list are Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who have not been able to make their way to California guys.

“This is something that, I mean, we haven’t… There’s not much precedent for this at all, and there’s a very, very real chance that Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are not going to play Indian Wells.”

Isner added: “There were some options, but they’re just awful: a six-hour drive to Oman or a 10-hour drive to Riyadh. Yeah, I mean, that makes me think, staying in Dubai [is the best bet]. This is tough, unprecedented. We haven’t seen anything like this one.

“We just hope everyone is safe and secure, I mean, tennis is not such a big deal when you’re dealing with an issue like this over there. So we hope everyone’s safe, and of course, we hope all these players and the ATP staff can get to Indian Wells, but it’s looking unlikely.”

There have also been reports that their fellow Russian Karen Khachanov is also in Dubai as he also competed in the tournament, but others suggest he has already made his way to the US.

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The draw has been made for the ATP 1000 Indian Wells Open and it has thrown up the prospect of some enticing match-ups in the Californian desert.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz is in the same half of the draw as No 3 seed Novak Djokovic, throwing up the prospect of the duo who contested the Australian Open final in January meeting in the semi-finals at Indian Wells.

Alcaraz and Djokovic will have some hurdles to overcome before they reach that last four showdown, with defending champion Jack Draper also in that top half of the draw.

The British No 1 is playing in his first ATP 1000 event of 2026 after he missed most of the second half of last season due to a bone bruising issue in his arm.

Draper is defending 1,000 ranking points following his breakthrough win at Indian Wells last year, in a run that saw him beat Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

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Given his recent fitness issues, Draper would probably be happy to get through to that potential fourth round clash with Djokovic, with his return to action likely to be steady rather than spectacular after so long away from the court.

As for Djokovic, he will face a tough opening match as the dangerous and unpredictable Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard could be his opening opponent in round two if the Frenchman can get past Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in his first match.

World No 2 Jannik Sinner appears to have got the best end of this draw, as he has been drawn in the same quarter as Ben Shelton.

That could see another clash between Sinner and Shelton in the quarter-finals, with the Italian holding a dominant 9-1 winning record against the American.

Sinner could face former top 10 star Stefanos Tsitsipas in round three and the dangerous duo of Joao Fonseca or Karen Khachanov may lie in wait in the fourth round.

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Yet he will fancy his chances of making strong progress in Indian Wells as he looks to build his ranking points in a tournament he missed last year, as he was serving a doping suspension.

This can be a tournament that throws up some surprise results, as many players take time to adapt to the conditions in Indian Wells, but this is the projected quarter-finals if all the top seeds make it through to the last eight.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Alex De Minaur
Taylor Fritz vs Novak Djokovic
Alexander Zverev vs Lorenzo Musetti
Ben Shelton vs Jannik Sinner

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