Djokovic Favored to Win Another Indian Wells Title
Djokovic Is The Favorite According to the 2024 BNP Paribas Open Odds
Alcaraz Looks To Join Some Legends As A Back-to-Back Winner in Indian Wells
The usual suspects will arrive for the 96-player field on the hard courts in Indian Wells, California, as the ATP tour spends the next four weeks in the United States before the focus turns to the clay court season. Five-time champion Novak Djokovic headlines the 2024 BNP Paribas Open odds.
Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion and another of the top contenders as he looks to become the first back-to-back ATP champion in Indian Wells since Djokovic.
When looking at the tennis futures odds, Djokovic enters the tournament as the favorite at +175 to win his sixth title in Indian Wells, followed by Jannik Sinner at +310 and Carlos Alcaraz at +430.
The main draw is set to begin on Wednesday, with the 32 seeds all receiving first-round byes. The champion will be crowned on Mar. 17 before the top players make their way to Miami for the next ATP 1000 event. After that, the tennis tournaments will be on clay as players prepare for the French Open.
Another Record in Sight For Djokovic
When Djokovic won in Indian Wells, he was the first player to win five men’s singles titles at the tournament. That record was tied the following year by Roger Federer.
This is the first appearance for Djokovic in Indian Wells since 2019 when he lost in the third round.
Djokovic is viewed as the player to beat according to the 2024 BNP Paribas Open odds.
Some big hitters in his portion of the draw include Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, and American Tommy Paul. The first-seeded player Djokovic might run into is No. 30 Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Djokovic, still at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, hasn’t played since his four-set loss to Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals.
Alcaraz Looks To Double His Pleasure
It is an impressive list of players who have won back-to-back men’s singles titles in Indian Wells. Alcaraz is among the top contenders per the 2024 BNP Paribas Open odds to join Roscoe Tanner, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, and Djokovic as repeat champions.
When looking at some tennis scores, Alcaraz did not lose a set in his six matches on his way to winning the 2023 title in Indian Wells. He topped Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in the final after eliminating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals and Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
Since losing to Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open quarterfinals, Alcaraz reached the semifinals in Buenos Aires and then had to retire in his opening match against Thiago Monteiro in Rio de Janeiro.
Auger-Aliassime is a potential third-round opponent before he can even think of a potential rematch with Zverev in the quarterfinals. Alex de Minaur is another top seed that Alcaraz may have to contend with.
Americans Seek to Block Sinner’s Path
Five Americans are in the same quarter of the draw as reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, including No. 16 seed Ben Shelton and No. 18 seed Frances Tiafoe.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev are other seeded players to keep an eye on as Sinner looks to make it three straight titles in a row as he followed up his strong run in Australia by winning the championship in Rotterdam.
Sinner reached the semifinals at the 2023 Indian Wells event before falling to Alcaraz.
A Tough Draw for Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev, the No. 4 seed, will need to earn his way through his portion of the draw as he is priced at +700 in the 2024 BNP Paribas Open odds.
Grigor Dimitrov, the No. 13 seed, could be waiting in the fourth round with American Taylor Fritz, the 2022 men’s singles champion at Indian Wells, or Holger Rune among the potential quarterfinal foes.
When Fritz topped Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Indian Wells singles final, he was the first American to win the men’s singles title in this tournament since Michael Chang in 1997.
Medvedev has won six of the nine previous showdowns with Dimitrov, but Dimitrov won the most recent matchup at the 2023 Paris Masters event.
Can Rafa Make a Run?
There are some intriguing names among the unseeded players. None are more noteworthy than Rafael Nadal. One of the all-time greats, Nadal’s career has been stuck in neutral recently due to injury.
He will face 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in his first match, with the winner drawing Rune. Nadal is priced at -200 by the tennis odds to top Raonic.
Nadal is well back at +3600 in the Indian Wells title odds.
Nadal did win a pair of matches in Brisbane in January. However, he hasn’t defeated a top-20 player since the 2022 ATP Finals.
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