3 minute read
The first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of 2024 begins next week as the great and the good of the ATP throw down at Indian Wells.
There is always a great atmosphere at the BNP Paribas Open – the first leg of the 'Sunshine Double' and the best-attended tennis tournament outside the four Slams - and it should be extra special this year as fans welcome the return of Rafael Nadal.
After seeing almost all of 2023 ravaged by injury, Spain's Raging Bull has said 'Uno Mas' and is embarking on a farewell tour of sorts in 2024.
It has not started well to be fair. After nearly a year out due to a hip problem - which needed surgery - he played the Brisbane International in early January and reached the final. However, he suffered a muscle tear on his hip and as a result has not been seen since, missing the Australian Open and a chance to add to his 22 Grand Slams.
King Rafa has won 36 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles in a hall-of-fame career but the bookies do not fancy his chances of rolling back the years in the desert, an event he last won way back in 2013.
The betting jolly is Novak Djokovic, who this time last year was denied entry into the US due to the fact he was/is unvaccinated against COVID.
That furore eventually died down, and he went on to win the Cincinnati Open and the US Open on American soil last season.
Social media went into meltdown recently when Nadal and Djokovic posed for a plane selfie, with the two superstars seemingly meeting by chance having caught the same flight to Southern California as they made their way from Europe to Indian Wells.
The Serb has seemingly put the GOAT debate to bed, having won 24 majors and a record 40 Masters 1000 titles. Given he turns 37 this summer, his level is just ridiculous.
There have been players who have been more showy and flamboyant on the big stage, but in terms of longevity and consistency, he has no peers. This week saw Djokovic reach a remarkable 415 weeks in the World No 1 position. For context, hitting the latest rankings milestone means he has now been on top of the rankings for precisely two years more than his nearest rival, Swiss legend Roger Federer.
Djokovic and Federer hold the record for most tournament wins (5), and Novak clearly likes the Plexipave surface at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The terrain at Indian Wells is not for everyone, because the ball bounces higher than almost anywhere else, while the altitude also means the ball travels faster through the air. The court surface itself is notoriously slow, but Djokovic has been able to get it done here so often as he is rarely caught out of position and normally dictates matches from the baseline.
He is like a human wall, and the way he refuses to give up on any point is borderline psychotic, but means he will be remembered as one of the masters of the game once he calls it a day.
There are injury question marks surround some of Djokovic's main rivals. Carlos Alcaraz was forced to retire from his Rio Open first round game recently after injuring himself just two points into the match.
Alcaraz twisted his ankle against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro. In typical swashbuckling fashion, Carlitos went on to break Monteiro's serve in the very next point. However he retired soon after, leaving the stadium on a golf cart and so one wonders if the 2023 champion – with a ton of ranking points to defend here - will be anywhere near 100% here?
Ditto Daniil Medvedev. The Russian had not played since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final last month, pulling out of events in Rotterdam and Qatar citing a foot injury and fatigue as reasons for his non-participation. He did put a run together in Dubai last week however, suggesting he might be OK.
If Alcaraz is fit, he deserves respect, but it's a bit of a head-scratcher how he has not won a single tournament since that seminal Wimbledon success last year, isn't it?
Shout out to Andy Murray, who will be making his sixteenth appearance at Indian Wells. The tenacious Scot will be a huge price with the bookies to claim a title he has never won (best showing was a final in 2009, with him falling in the championship match to Nadal).
Murray is very much in the winter of his career, but the Three-time Slam winner and two-time Olympic Gold Medallist still has a game to be respected and it will be interesting to see where he pitches up in the draw.
Alexander Zverev and shock 2022 Indian Wells champ Taylor Fritz will also have their backers, but Jannik Sinner could be the man to get with.
World No. 4 Sinner fared well last year, bowing out to eventual champion Alcaraz in the semis. He has started this year with a bang, winning his first major at the Australian Open and dominating Djokovic en route to the title.
That four-set victory over Novak in Melbourne was astonishing with the Serb unable to handle the Italian's power game. Sinner possesses extraordinary speed and power off both wings, and the actual sound of Sinner's forehand leaving the racquet is just incredible.
This is clean power hitting 2.0, and having already won the Australian Open and indoors in Rotterdam so far this season, I am all in about his chances in the desert.
