Indian Wells men’s singles draw revealed

The BNP Paribas Open draw ceremony was held on Tuesday afternoon in Indian Wells, where Roger Federer is hoping to defend his 2017 title as the top seed and world No. 1. Federer could not have asked for a much better draw, as his half is considerably softer than the other side–which is home to Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Kei Nishikori, and others.

Coming off triumphs at the Australian Open and on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, the 36-year-old Swiss awaits either Ryan Harrison or Federico Delbonis following a first-round bye. Federer’s nearest seed a potential third-round opponent is Filip Krajinovic, who returned from a January injury to reach the Dubai semifinals last week. Also in the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s quarter are Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych, Fabio Fognini, and Aussie Open semifinalist Hyeon Chung.

Grigor Dimitrov will most likely have a much tougher time setting up a possible rematch of the Rotterdam final against Federer in the Indian Wells semis. Dimitrov could open with Fernando Verdasco prior to a third-round showdown against familiar foe Andrey Rublev. Dubai champion Roberto Bautista is a possible fourth-round adversary for Dimitrov, while Nick Kyrgios and New York champion Kevin Anderson also find themselves in the second section of the bracket.

In the other half, Djokovic could hardly have been dealt a more difficult hand in his first tournament since the Australian Open. After opening with a qualifier, the 13th-ranked Serb has possible dates with Nishikori (third round) and Del Potro (fourth round) just to book a spot in the quarterfinals. Whoever emerges from that eighth of the draw could run into either Cilic, John Isner, or Gilles Muller in the last eight. A struggling Isner appears to be line for a rough opener against good friend and frequent opponent Gael Monfils.
Also in the bottom half are Zverev, Jack Sock, Lucas Pouille, and Diego Schwartzman. Pouille (one title and two runner-up finishes during the February swing) and Schwartzman (Rio de Janeiro champion) are the only two players in the third quarter playing particularly stellar at the moment, so a Pouille-Schwartzman quarterfinal would arguably be less surprising than something like Zverev vs. Sock. The fourth-seeded German is on a third-round collision course with an oft-injured Milos Raonic.

Before the seeds get started, first-round matchups to watch are Fernando Verdasco vs. Guido Pella, Reilly Opelka vs. Taylor Fritz, Borna Coric vs. Donald Young, Steve Johnson vs. Daniil Medvedev, and Frances Tiafoe vs. Ernesto Escobedo.

Full draw at the ATP website

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