Indian Wells (USA), March 3 – Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning Australian Open winner and top seed, will face a challenging test when he steps onto the court for his opening match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The number 1 player in the ATP Rankings will open the season's first ATP Masters 1000 event against either former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov or rising left-handed player Terence Atmane, with five-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic looming 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, Dimitrov has shown comfort at Indian Wells, reaching the semi-finals in 2021 and the quarter-finals in 2022.
Atmane, on the other hand, 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 52nd in the ATP Rankings. The 24-year-old has split two previous ATP head-to-head meetings with Dimitrov, including a straight-sets victory last week in Acapulco.
"It's amazing. I'm hoping to have two very good matches. We're going to stay focused on the first one," Atmane told ATP Tour on Tuesday. "It's always fun. We played with Grigor last week, so we'll play again. It's very exciting. Whoever of us wins will be able to play against Carlitos. It's going to be very interesting for both of us."
Djokovic, who is tied with Roger Federer for the most titles in tournament history (5), will play against 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 strong start on his pursuit of a 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 also 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. Sinner will face James Duckworth or a qualifier in the second round.
