The first Masters 1000 of the season is upon us, and the draw at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open is now out.
This year’s tournament sees the return of Novak Djokovic for the first time since 2019, having missed the last two editions due to draconian travel restrictions.
Rafael Nadal will also be in town as part of his comeback from injury and enters with a protected ranking. The Spaniard will face fellow injury-ridden Milos Raonic in the opening round, who is also entering via protected ranking.
Carlos Alcaraz heads in as the defending champion and’ll be looking to land his first title since Wimbledon last year.
While third seed Jannik Sinner, who’s hot on the Spaniard’s heels, arrives in California with a 12-0 record in 2024, having backed up his Australian Open win by taking the Rotterdam title a fortnight ago.
You can see the full 2024 Indian Wells draw below. Play commenced Wednesday 6th of March.
Tournament Info
Event Name: BNP Paribas Open / Indian Wells Open
Founded: 1974
Location: Indian Wells, Greater Palm Springs, California
Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, 78-200 Miles Ave, Indian Wells, CA 92210, United States
Surface: Outdoor Hard Court (Plexipave® I.W. system)
Ball: Penn Tour (HEAD in Europe)
Current Men’s Champions: Carlos Alcaraz
Current Women’s Champion: Elena Rybakina
Current Men’s Doubles Champions: Rohan Bopanna / Matthew Ebden
Current Women’s Doubles Champions: Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková
Category: ATP Masters 1000 / WTA 1000
Draw Size: 96 Singles / 48 Qualifying / 32 Doubles
Dates: 6-17 March 2024
Prize Money: $8,995,555 (ATP) / $8,995,555 (WTA) – Full Indian Wells 2024 prize money breakdown.
Full Indian Wells Tournament overview with history, former champions and more.
Indian Wells 2024 Seeds
Novak Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner
Daniil Medvedev
Andrey Rublev
Alexander Zverev
Holger Rune
Hubert Hurkacz
Casper Ruud
Alex de Minaur
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Taylor Fritz
Grigor Dimitrov
Ugo Humbert
Karen Khachanov
Ben Shelton
Tommy Paul
Frances Tiafoe
Sebastián Báez
Alexander Bublik
Adrian Mannarino
Francisco Cerúndolo
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Nicolás Jarry
Jan-Lennard Struff
Lorenzo Musetti
Tallon Griekspoor
Cameron Norrie
Sebastian Korda
Tomás Martín Etcheverry
Félix Auger-Aliassime
Jiří Lehečka
2024 Indian Wells Draw
Top Half
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Bye
Shintaro Mochizuki (Q) vs Aleksandar Vukic
Aleksandar Kovacevic (WC) vs Zhizhen Zhang
Bye vs Tomas Etcheverry (30)
Tommy Paul (17) vs Bye
Alex Michelsen vs Jaume Munar
Ethan Quinn vs Patrick Kypson (WC)
Bye vs Ugo Humbert (14)
Casper Ruud (9) vs Bye
Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (Q) vs Lukas Klein (Q)
Arthur Fils vs Nuno Borges
Bye vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (23)
Cameron Norrie (28) vs Bye
Lorenzo Sonego vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Gael Monfils vs Max Purcell
Bye vs Hubert Hurkacz (8)
Daniil Medvedev (4) vs Bye
Flavio Cobolli vs Roberto Carballes Baena
Roman Safiullin vs Daniel Evans
Bye vs Sebastian Korda (29)
Adrian Mannarino (21) vs Bye
Stan Wawrinka vs Tomas Machac
Hugo Grenier (Q) vs Arthur Muller
Bye vs Grigor Dimitrov (13)
Taylor Fritz (12) vs Bye
Pavel Kotov vs Alejandro Tabilo
Fabio Fognini (WC) vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles
Bye vs Sebastian Baez (19)
Lorenzo Musetti (26) vs Bye
Botic van de Zandschulp vs Denis Shapovalov (PR)
Milos Raonic (PR) vs Rafael Nadal (PR)
Bye vs Holger Rune (7)
Bottom Half
Andrey Rublev (5) vs Bye
Andy Murray vs David Goffin (Q)
Christopher Eubanks vs Brandon Nakashima (WC)
Bye vs Jiri Lehecka (32)
Frances Tiafoe (18) vs Bye
Dusan Lajovic vs Emil Ruusuvuori
Lucas Pouille (Q) vs Daniel Altmaier
Bye vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (11)
Ben Shelton (16) vs Bye
Jakub Mensik (WC) vs Seongchan Hong (Q)
Alexander Shevchenko vs Dominik Koepfer
Bye vs Francisco Cerundolo (22)
Jan-Lennard Struff (25) vs Bye
Borna Coric vs Sebastian Ofner
Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Marcos Giron
Bye vs Jannik Sinner (3)
Alexander Zverev (6) vs Bye
Christopher O’Connell vs Jack Draper
Yannick Hanfmann vs Pedro Cachin
Bye vs Tallon Griekspoor (27)
Alexander Bublik (20) vs Bye
Juncheng Shang (Q) vs Jordan Thompson
Taro Daniel vs Daniel Elahi Galan
Bye vs Alex de Minaur (10)
Karen Khachanov (15) vs Bye
Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q) vs Jeffrey John Wolf
Fabian Marozsan vs Alexei Popyrin
Bye vs Nicolas Jarry (24)
Felix AugervsAliassime (31) vs Bye
Constant Lestienne (Q) vs Denis Kudla (Q)
Luca Van Assche vs Matteo Arnaldi
Bye vs Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Full .PDF draw sheet.
Thoughts on the Draw
With a record 415 weeks at number one, Djokovic is the top seed in Indian Wells, and after a first-round bye, he’ll face either Shintaro Mochizuki or Aleksandar Vukic.
In round three, the Serb could face Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who’s had an impressive last twelve months. However, he hasn’t played since retiring with a leg injury in Buenos three weeks ago.
He could get newly crowned Dubai champion Ugo Humbert in the last 16 before facing Casper Ruud or Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic’s Potential Path
First Round: Bye
Second Round: Shinataro Mochizuki / Aleksandar Vukic
Third Round: Tomas Martin Ectcheverry
Fourth Round: Tommy Paul / Ugo Humbert
Quarter Final: Casper Ruud / Hubert Hurkacz
Semi Final: Daniil Medvedev / Holger Rune
Final: Carlos Alcaraz / Jannik Sinner
Last year’s runner-up, Daniil Medvedev, is also in the top half and would be Djokovic’s semi-final opponent should they both progress.
However, the Russian looked a little lacklustre in Dubai, and his known disdain of the Indian Wells courts could see him struggle with Korda in the third round or Dimitrov in the last sixteen.
Also in the top half are 7th seed Holger Rune, Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov and former Champions Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie.
Seb Baez is also in this half, and it will be interesting to see if he can carry his form from the Golden Swing onto the hard courts in Indian Wells.
Rafal Nadal is also in the top half and faces Milos Raonic in his opening match before a second round against Holger Rune.
Given what I saw from Nadal in his Netflix Slam match against Alcaraz, he is playing ok but still looks sluggish moving to his backhand and not ready to go all out.
In the bottom half of the draw, defending Champion Carlos Alcaraz is the highest-ranked player, and he’ll be looking to make his first final since last August.
The second seed will face Frenchman Luca Van Assche or Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the second round, then could meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round, sixth seed Alexander Zverev or Acapulco champion Alex de Minaur in the last eight.
Alcaraz could then run into the best player of 2024, Jannik Sinner, who is unbeaten this calendar year. The Italian faces either Marcos Giron or Thanasi Kokkinakis in his first match.
Giron could be a fun match as he’s used to the condition and has the Los Angeles local boy tag for the crowd to rally behind.
Ben Shelton could be his opponent in the last sixteen, followed by Andrey Rublev, fresh from getting his ranking points and prize money reinstated after his default in Dubai. The Russian could meet Andy Murray in the round of sixty-four.
Alcaraz’s Potential Path
First round: Bye
Second round: Luca Van Assche / Matteo Arnaldi
Third round: Felix Auger-Aliassime
Round of 16: Karen Khachanov
Quarter-final: Alexander Zverev / Alex de Minaur
Semi-final: Jannik Sinner
Final: Novak Djokovic
Interesting First-Round Matches
With 32 byes handed out, most of the exciting matches commence in round 2, so while it’s rather thin on the ground for the opening two days, there are a handful of interesting matches on the cards:
Milos Raonic vs Rafael Nadal
Borna Coric vs Sebastian Ofner
Stan Wawrinka vs Tomas Machac
Roman Safiullin vs Dan Evans
Gael Monfils vs Max Purcell
My pick for a decent run? Jan-Lennard Struff. Indian Wells can favour guys with a big first serve who go after that first ball. Jack Draper could also be a threat, but his stamina is under scrutiny.
What do you guys think of the draw? Let me know in the comments.