The BNP Paribas Open draw ceremony was held on Tuesday afternoon in Indian Wells and one of the results was a potential semifinal showdown between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, is in a top half that also features Alexander Zverev, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Borna Coric.
Djokovic skipped the February swing, meaning he has not played a match since triumphing at the Australian Open. The top-ranked Serb hit a low point during the Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine Double” last year, but he totally reversed course throughout the second half of 2018 and now heads to the California desert as the obvious title favorite. He begins his fortnight against a qualifier in before possibly facing Acapulco champion Nick Kyrgios in round three. A red-hot Gael Monfils is a potential opponent in the last 16, while Thiem or Coric are potential quarterfinal foes.
Zverev, who finished runner-up to Kyrgios in Acapulco, may have to go up against none other than his brother (Mischa, with whom the younger Zverev won the Acapulco doubles title) in the second round. Mischa first has to defeat Martin Klizan. Anderson is the other top-eight seed in the second section of the draw, but he has been injured since Melbourne. That means the door could be open for an on-fire Tsitsipas. The 20-year-old Greek was the runner-up to Federer last week in Dubai.
Federer’s Indian Wells draw looks like a mixed bag. The third-ranked Swiss should coast through his opener but will likely collide with countryman Stan Wawrinka in the third round. Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic are possible semifinal opponents, but neither one looks especially daunting at the moment.
Nadal enters this tournament as a question mark–as he often is on anything other than clay. The Spaniard has been solid in his latest comeback from injury, but he got blown out by Djokovic in the Aussie Open final. He was then dealt a bad draw in Acapulco and lost to Kyrgios in a third-set tiebreaker after squandering three match points in succession from 6-3 up in the ‘breaker. Nadal’s path through Indian Wells could feature a confident Daniil Medvedev in round four and John Isner in the quarterfinals.
First-rounders to watch include Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Steve Johnson vs. Taylor Fritz, Cameron Norrie vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Tomas Berdych vs. Feliciano Lopez.
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