(Tennis news) The Indian Wells will begin from tomorrow and there are plenty of players waiting to get their hands on the trophy. The top seeds will be the favourite but with the recent results anything can happen and a new champion is waiting in line to step in court and deliver. With only a month to go, players will hope to end the year with good rankings and collect maximum points.
Daniil Medvedev
The US Open champion stunned Novak Djokovic for a first Grand Slam title, Medvedev has four Masters 1000 titles and won his fourth one this year at Toronto. He has not progressed beyond the third at Indian Wells but 12 of his 13 career titles have come in hard courts and this year’s progression will put him in the top spot. Medvedev is two victories short of 50 victories in a season and his personal best of 59 victories came in 2018.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas is the only player this season with 50 plus match wins, the Greek god won his first Masters 1000 title this year at Monte Carlo. He has never progressed beyond the second round here and will look to win shrug off his US Open performance where he lost in the third round to Carlos Alcaraz. Tsitsipas has reached the quarterfinals of all the Master 1000 events except at Madrid where he lost in the fourth round.
Alexander Zverev
Zverev is the only player to win two Masters 1000 crowns this year and will look to add a third one. He won in Cincinnati and in Madrid where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal in straight sets. Zverev beat Djokovic at the Tokyo Olympics singles semifinals to deny him a chance for the Gold medal although he lost to Djokovic at the US Open in a tight five set contest. Zverev’s best performance at Indian Wells came five years ago where he reached the fourth round and lost to Nadal after missing a forehand volley on matchpoint. He will look to be the first person since Nadal in 2018 to win three Masters 1000 in a season.
Andrey Rublev
Rublev is yet to win a Master 1000 title but reached the finals at Monte Carlo and Cinicinnati. The Russian had a shock defeat in the semifinals of the San Diego Open to Cameron Norrie and will now look to win his crown here. He has not progressed beyond the third round at Indian Wells although has been playing well this season and with a great win here will ensure his place at the World Tour Finals.
Also read: Indian Wells back on tour after a year, first time champion confirmed in men’s draw this time