The BNP Paribas Open draw ceremony was held on Monday afternoon. Needless to say, all eyes were on one name: Rafael Nadal.
Ranked No. 652 and obviously unseeded at the Indian Wells Masters, Nadal has to play a rare first-round match without the benefit of a bye and was entirely at the mercy of the draw. In the end, the 37-year-old Spaniard has a difficult but manageable path through the bracket. He will kick off his fortnight against Milos Raonic on Thursday night and could face seventh-seeded Holger Rune in round two.
Nadal’s projected draw based on seeding
R1: Milos Raonic
R2: (7) Holger Rune
R3: (26) Lorenzo Musetti
R4: (12) Taylor Fritz
QF: (4) Daniil Medvedev
SF: (1) Novak Djokovic
F: (2) Carlos Alcaraz/(3) Jannik Sinner/(5) Andrey Rublev/(6) Alexander Zverev
Novak Djokovic could run into several in-form opponents midway through the tournament. The world No. 1 is on a collision course for the fourth round with Marseille and Dubai champion Ugo Humbert, while Hubert Hurkacz is a potential quarterfinal foe.
The bottom half of the draw–and specifically the bottom quarter–is even tougher. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner would square off in the semifinals if they make it that far, but Alcaraz is in a section with recent nemesis Alexander Zverev and Acapulco champion Alex de Minaur. Alcaraz’s first match is likely to come against a fast-rising Matteo Arnaldi. Sinner could meet Ben Shelton in the last 16 and then either Andrey Rublev or Stefanos Tsitisipas in the quarters.
Full Indian Wells draw in PDF format via the ATP website
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