Indian Wells is set to welcome the biggest names in the sport to its idyllic tennis garden in the desert, with so much at stake in the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of 2025.

With world No 1 Jannik Sinner absent as he serves a three-month drug ban, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz will be the top seeds and her are five big predictions for the men’s event in California.

The world No 3 will return to Indian Wells to defend his title and if he is fully fit, the Spaniard will be the man to beat.

The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion relishes the slick hard courts in this tournament and he is also a big fans’ favourite in America.

If his serve is firing and that fearsome forehand is ripping through the court at full velocity, Alcaraz will fancy his chances of retaining his crown.

THE NOVAK DJOKOVIC QUESTION

Novak Djokovic was beaten by lucky loser Luca Nardi in this tournament a year ago and that performance provided the first big indicator that Djokovic was losing his desire to play in regular ATP Tour events.

After winning his 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, Djokovic went through a challenging start to last year as the defeat against Nardi was backed up by his split from long-time coach Goran Ivanisevic.

Djokovic’s motivation issues continued for most of last year, as he focused on winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games in August.

Now he appears to have rediscovered some of his motivation and there is an expectation that former world No 1 Andy Murray will join him in Indian Wells to continue their intriguing player-coach partnership.

Djokovic was hugely impressive in his win against Alcaraz at the Australian Open and if he can bring that form with him to America, he could be a contender to lift his 100th career title.

Taylor Fritz won the Indian Wells crown in 2022 with a famous win against Rafael Nadal in the final and he will lead the American challenge once again this time.

A third round defeat at the Australian Open represented a disappointing start to the season for this big serving American and he will expect to post a much better showing in the two ATP 1000 tournaments coming up in Indian Wells and Miami in March.

Tommy Paul will also get plenty of support from his home fans and the player to watch may be the big-serving Ben Shelton, who will be keen to bounce back from a defeat against Belgian veteran David Goffin in Acapulco this week.

THE YOUNG GUNS

Plenty of eyes will fall on Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien as they look to make their mark at ATP Masters 1000 level.

Brazilian teenager Fonseca is already a huge star in his homeland and his stunning debut ATP Tour win at the Argentina Open earlier this month highlighted his stunning potential.

Fonseca already looks like a complete player at the age of 18 and he will be a danger to anyone drawn against him.

Tien is a little older than Fonseca at the age of 19, but this young American is making waves this year after he reached the fourth round at the Australian Open.

He lost against Fonseca in the decisive match of the ATP Next Gen Finals last November, but had shown his impressive progress by beating top ten stars Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev this year.

LOOK OUT FOR

Britain’s Jack Draper has not made it past the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, but his time is coming.

A semi-finalist at last year’s US Open, he reached the final in Qatar earlier this month and will relish the conditions in Indian Wells, where he reached the fourth round in 2023.

After losing in round one last year, he has a chance to pick up plenty of ranking points in this event and that could propel Draper into the top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time.

Matteo Berrettini is another player to watch over the next few weeks on America hard courts.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist impressively beat Novak Djokovic in Qatar and his power-packed game is a handful for any opponent when he is firing.

Finally, America’s Alex Michelsen is rising star who could have a big run at Indian Wells after his solid start to 2025 included a run to the last-16 of the Australian Open and a run to the semi-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in Delray Beach earlier this month.