Indian Wells 2018 Draw Revealed, Djokovic in Tough Half Opposite Federer

Written by: Staff on 6th March 2018

Indian Wells 2018 Draw Revealed, Djokovic in Tough Half Opposite Federer

epa06464537 Novak Djokovic of Serbia looks on during a break in his fourth round match against Chung Hyeon of South Korea at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2018. EPA-EFE/MAST IRHAM |

By Ricky Dimon

The BNP Paribas Open draw ceremony was held on Tuesday afternoon in Indian Wells, Calif., where Roger Federer will soon begin his 2018 title defense as the No. 1 seed and once again the top-ranked player in the world. Federer could not have asked for a much better draw, as his half is clearly less daunting than the other side–where Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Kei Nishikori are among the participants.

Coming off titles at the Australian Open and at the 500-point tournament in Rotterdam, the Federer awaits either Ryan Harrison or Federico Delbonis following an opening-round bye. The 36-year-old Swiss’ nearest seed a possible third-round adversary is Filip Krajinovic, who returned from a January injury to make a run last week to the Dubai semifinals. Also in the Federer’s Indian Wells quarter are Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych, and Australian Open semifinalist Hyeon Chung.

If there is to be a rematch of the Rotterdam championship match between Federer and Grigor Dimitrov in the Indian Wells semifinals, it will most likely be Dimitrov who has a more difficult time making it come to fruition. The fourth-ranked Bulgarian could kick off his campaign against Fernando Verdasco in advance of a third-round battle with frequent opponent Andrey Rublev. Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships winner Roberto Bautista is a possible fourth-round opponent for Dimitrov, while Nick Kyrgios and New York Open champ Kevin Anderson are also part of the draw’s second quarter.

On the other side, Djokovic could hardly have been dealt a more difficult hand in his first event since the Aussie Open. After opening with a qualifier, the world No. 13 will possibly go up against Nishikori (third round) and Del Potro (fourth round) just to earn a place in the last eight. Whoever emerges from that eighth of the bracket could meet either Cilic, John Isner, or Gilles Muller in the quarterfinals. A slumping Isner appears to be one course for a difficult opener against friendly and familiar foe Gael Monfils.

Also in the bottom half of the draw are Zverev, Jack Sock, Lucas Pouille, and Diego Schwartzman. Pouille (one title and two runner-up performances during the February swing in Europe) and Schwartzman (champion on the red clay of Rio de Janeiro) are the only two men in the third quarter of the bracket in particular fine form right now, so a Pouille-Schwartzman quarterfinal showdown would arguably be less surprising than something like Zverev vs. Sock. The fifth-ranked German is in line for a third-round date with an oft-injured Milos Raonic.

Before the seeded men get underway this weekend, first-round matchups to watch are Taylor Fritz vs, Reilly Opelka, Frances Tiafoe vs. Ernesto Escobedo, Donald Young vs. Borna Coric, Steve Johnson vs. Daniil Medvedev, and Fernando Verdasco vs. Guido Pella.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.

Topics: Atp, BNP Paribas Open, Fernando Verdasco, jack sock, Men's tennis, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tennis News, Zverev