2024 Indian Wells Draw, BNP Paribas Open: Djokovic Returns, Nadal’s Comeback, Sinner Unbeaten

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

Full Indian Wells Tournament overview with history, former champions and more.

Indian Wells 2024 Seeds

1. Novak Djokovic
2. Carlos Alcaraz
3. Jannik Sinner
4. Daniil Medvedev
5. Andrey Rublev
6. Alexander Zverev
7. Holger Rune
8. Hubert Hurkacz
9. Casper Ruud
10. Alex de Minaur
11. Stefanos Tsitsipas
12. Taylor Fritz
13. Grigor Dimitrov
14. Ugo Humbert
15. Karen Khachanov
16. Ben Shelton
17. Tommy Paul
18. Frances Tiafoe
19. Sebastián Báez
20. Alexander Bublik
21. Adrian Mannarino
22. Francisco Cerúndolo
23. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
24. Nicolás Jarry
25. Jan-Lennard Struff
26. Lorenzo Musetti
27. Tallon Griekspoor
28. Cameron Norrie
29. Sebastian Korda
30. Tomás Martín Etcheverry
31. Félix Auger-Aliassime
32. Jiří Lehečka

2024 Indian Wells Draw

Top Half

Bottom Half

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 a qualifier 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

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

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:

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.