By Rory Carroll
INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) – Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is the hot favourite to complete a rare Indian Wells three-peat while Poland’s Iga Swiatek will look to become the only woman to win the tournament three times when the main draw gets underway on Wednesday in the California desert.
With world number one Jannik Sinner serving a doping suspension, Alcaraz has one fewer obstacle as he bids to join greats Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only players to prevail three consecutive times in “Tennis Paradise”.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev in his last two Indian Wells finals and despite falling to Djokovic in the quarter-finals of January’s Australian Open, he has enjoyed a strong start to the year with an 11-2 win/loss record.
Djokovic, 37, retired from his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury and lost in the Qatar Open first round last month.
The Serb is hunting a sixth Indian Wells crown, which would break his tie with Federer and make him the third man with 100 career singles titles in the professional era behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Federer (103).
The 24-time Grand Slam champion will also want redemption after his shock loss to tournament lucky loser Luca Nardi in the third round last year in one of the biggest upsets of his career.
America boasts five players in the men’s top 25 who can expect strong support from the home crowd every time they step on the hard courts of the palm tree-lined Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Top American Taylor Fritz will look to recreate the magic of his career breakthrough win three years ago, while last year’s semi-finalist Tommy Paul hopes for another deep run.
Big-serving lefty Ben Shelton, who reached the Australian Open semis, especially loves to feed off the energy of the crowd and could ride that to a breakthrough win.
AMERICAN WOMEN RISING
A dangerous group of American women eager to end a title drought in the desert, meanwhile, could prove a threat to world number two Swiatek’s bid for history.
No American woman has lifted the trophy in Indian Wells since Serena Williams in 2001.
Three American women are in the top five including number three Coco Gauff, number four Jessica Pegula and number five Madison Keys, who triumphed at Melbourne Park in January for her first Grand Slam title.
Another American to watch is Amanda Anisimova, who took a break from the sport to prioritise her mental health in 2023 and is now playing some of the best tennis of her life, winning February’s Qatar Open to crack the top 20 for the first time.
No player in the draw will want to face world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who finished runner-up at the tournament in 2023.
Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva meanwhile looks increasingly like she could be the future of the sport after beating Grand Slam winners Swiatek and Elena Rybakina en route to the title in Dubai.
Main draw action at the WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, officially called the BNP Paribas Open, begins on Wednesday and concludes with the finals on Sunday, March 16.
The 32-seeded players on the men’s and women’s sides receive byes to the second round.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Indian Wells; Editing by Toby Davis)
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