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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has arrived at Indian Wells for the 2024 BNP Paribas Open. This will mark his first appearance at the venue since the 2019 edition. The vaccine mandate in the US had forced him to skip the event the last few years.
Djokovic is a five-time champion here with his most recent title coming back in 2016. His overall record at the tournament stands at 50-9. The Serb is now gunning for his sixth trophy here and his 41st Masters title.
Djokovic has competed in just a couple of tournaments this season. He made it to the quarterfinals of the United Cup along with the rest of the Serbian contingent. His title defense at the Australian Open concluded in the semifinals with a four-set defeat to Jannik Sinner.
The 36-year-old will now compete for the first time since that loss. On that note, here's a look at his road to a sixth title at Indian Wells:
Possible R2 opponent - Aleksandar Vukic
After a first-round bye, Djokovic could take on either Vukic or a yet-to-be-placed qualifier. This should be a routine victory for him as the qualifier is likely to be someone ranked quite low.
As for Vukic, he has just a lone victory to his name this season and given his form he's unlikely to put the World No. 1 in a spot of bother.
Possible R3 opponent - Tomas Martin Etcheverry
After a slow start to the year, Etcheverry showed some signs of life as he reached his first quarterfinal of the season at the Argentina Open. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury during his match against Nicolas Jarry and was forced to retire at the start of the third set.
Djokovic and Etcheverry have faced off thrice before this and the former has won all three of their matches in straight sets. Should the Argentine not make it this far, Zhizheng Zhang is most likely to make it in his stead. The Serb will be favored to win against him as well.
Possible R4 opponent - Ugo Humbert
Humbert has been one of the most in-form players this season and has already captured a couple of titles this year. He hoisted his first trophy at the Open 13 Provence and followed it up with a title-winning run at last week's Dubai Tennis Championships.
Djokovic won his only prior meeting against Humbert in straight sets at the 2019 Wimbledon. It won't be that easy for him this time around. Should the Frenchman falter early on, home favorite Tommy Paul is another candidate to reach this stage.
Potential QF opponent - Casper Ruud
Ruud recorded consecutive runner-up finishes at the Los Cabos Open and the Mexican Open over the last couple of weeks. His good run of form has pushed him back into the top 10 once again.
Ruud will need to get past players like Cameron Norrie and Hubert Hurkacz to reach this stage at Indian Wells. The Norwegian is capable of beating them but will need to step up his game considerably against Djokovic, who has won all five of their matches so far.
Possible SF opponent - Daniil Medvedev
The World No. 1 will face a familiar foe in the semifinal as Medvedev will be his most likely opponent in this round. The Russian reached the final of the Australian Open but blew a two-set lead to lose against Sinner. He recently made it to the semifinals in Dubai.
Djokovic leads Medvedev 10-5 in the head-to-head and has won six of their last eight matches. They most recently faced off in the final of last year's US Open with the Serb coming out on top in straight sets.
Should Medvedev make an early exit, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Grigor Dimitrov, and Sebastian Korda are among the most likely players to make it to the semifinals. The World No. 1 has a winning record against all of them as well.
Possible Final opponent - Jannik Sinner
Reigning Australian Open champion Sinner is the favorite to make the final from the bottom half of the draw. The young Italian remains undefeated this season and aside from the season's first Major, he also won the title in Rotterdam last month.
Sinner has been on a roll since the conclusion of last year's US Open and has compiled a 32-2 record since then. He has won four titles during this period and also claimed three wins over Djokovic during this period.
The Serb still leads their rivalry by a slim margin of 4-3 but the tide is now turning in Sinner's favor. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is the next likely candidate to reach the title round in case the Italian is eliminated in the early stages of the competition.
Alcaraz is still on the hunt for his first title since besting Djokovic in a five-set thriller to win the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. He retired from his first-round match at the Rio Open due to an injury but made a winning return as he defeated Rafael Nadal in the "Netflix Slam" over the weekend.
Should Alcaraz and Djokovic face off yet again, the latter is likely to have the upper hand. Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur are the other two players who have a good shot at reaching the summit clash at Indian Wells and could challenge the Serb as well.
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