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
The post Indian Wells draw: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner learn their fate appeared first on Tennis365.
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