{"id":30607,"date":"2025-03-05T03:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T03:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=30607"},"modified":"2025-03-05T03:00:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T03:00:42","slug":"reunited-novak-djokovic-andy-murray-team-up-as-next-gen-eyes-a-big-run-at-indian-wells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=30607","title":{"rendered":"Reunited! Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray team up as \u2018Next Gen\u2019 eyes a big run at Indian Wells"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five key storylines to follow as Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Iga Swiatek all look to make history at the \u2018fifth grand slam\u2019<\/p>\n

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\"<p>Djokovic<\/div>\n
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Indian Wells\u00a0begins on Wednesday 5 March, and with it, the lengthy build-up to a busy summer of tennis. The tournament \u2013 a combined WTA and ATP event \u2013 is one of the most prestigious and best-attended on the calendar outside of the four majors, to the point that it\u2019s sometimes referred to as the \u2018fifth grand slam\u2019.<\/p>\n

Following a month of tournaments all over the world, with half the top competitors jetting across the Middle East and the other half playing the \u2018Golden Swing\u2019 in South America, it\u2019s the first time since the\u00a0Australian Open\u00a0that many of the best will all be in the same draw. With 192 players in action across an eventful two weeks, we picked out the five key storylines to follow at this year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

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Who can capitalise on Sinner\u2019s absence?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner\u2019s three-month\u00a0doping suspension\u00a0leaves a gaping hole in the men\u2019s draw. The Italian has been utterly dominant on hard courts over the past year, winning the last three majors on the surface, including an imperious run at the Australian Open this year. Who can step up in his absence?<\/p>\n

World No 2\u00a0Alexander Zverev\u00a0is the top seed but had a dismal recent showing in Central and South America, only winning four matches across three tournaments. Alcaraz is the two-time defending champion, but he faces a tricky draw and a potential banana skin of a quarter-final against\u00a0Novak Djokovic. Djokovic himself has something of a question mark hanging over him following his injury-induced withdrawal from the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Could it be time for\u00a0Jack Draper, recent Qatar Open finalist and new world No 12, to shine? Or Greece\u2019s\u00a0Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won his biggest-ever hard-court title in Dubai last week?<\/p>\n

Big names bid to make history<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just regular tournament pressure on many of the big names, but several players have the chance to make history in California this year. Five-time champion Djokovic is bidding to become the only man to win Indian Wells six times, moving clear of the record he shares with\u00a0Roger Federer. Meanwhile, if Alcaraz wins, he would become only the third man \u2013 alongside both Djokovic and Federer \u2013 to earn a hat-trick of consecutive titles there.<\/p>\n

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On the women\u2019s side, world No 2\u00a0Iga Swiatek<\/a>\u00a0could add to her own list of records by becoming the first woman to lift the trophy three times. She is one of ten women to have won the tournament twice, with victories in 2022 and last year sandwiched by a semi-final loss to eventual champion\u00a0Elena Rybakina<\/a>\u00a0in 2023.<\/p>\n

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\"Iga<\/p>\n