Indian Wells, March 3: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will kick off the Indian Wells Open, the season's first ATP Masters 1000 event, against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov or Terence Atmane, with five-time champion Novak Djokovic also present in his half of the draw.
Alcaraz played Dimitrov in the California desert last year, losing just two games to the Bulgarian in the fourth round. However, according to ATP stats, Dimitrov has shown comfort at Indian Wells, reaching the semi-finals in 2021 and the quarter-finals in 2022.
Atmane will be making his main draw debut at Indian Wells after previously competing in qualifying. The Frenchman had a successful run last year in Cincinnati, reaching the semi-finals, and is currently ranked No. 52 in the ATP Rankings.
Djokovic, who is tied with Roger Federer for the most titles in tournament history (5), will play Kamil Majchrzak or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his first match since the Australian Open final.
The Serbian suffered a stunning opening defeat here to Botic van de Zandschulp last year and will aim to make a good start in his pursuit of his 102nd tour-level title.
Seventh seed Taylor Fritz, the 2022 Indian Wells champion, is also in Djokovic's quarter of the draw. The top-ranked American will open against Damir Dzumhur or Jacob Fearnley.
Second seed Jannik Sinner is chasing his first title in the desert and is in the same quarter as eighth seed Ben Shelton, who brings momentum to California after winning the Dallas title.
The Italian will open his Indian Wells campaign against James Duckworth or a qualifier and could face Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Denis Shapovalov or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round. He will meet Shelton if both men reach the quarter-finals.
Sinner reached back-to-back Indian Wells semifinals in 2023-24, losing to Carlos Alcaraz on both occasions.
