![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iw-scouting-report-16x9.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Scouting Report
\n Scouting Report: Alcaraz & Sinner seek Indian Wells success, Djokovic chases title record<\/p>\n
An executive summary of what every fan should know about the BNP Paribas Open\n<\/p>\n
March 02, 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ATP Tour<\/p>\n
The 2026 BNP Paribas Open runs from 4-15 March.
\n By Sam Jacot<\/p>\n
The first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season commences on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open<\/a> in Indian Wells, where Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>, Jannik Sinner<\/a> and Novak Djokovic<\/a> lead the field.<\/p>\n Alcaraz is a two-time champion at the hard-court event, while Sinner is yet to taste success in the California desert. Djokovic will be seeking a record sixth crown and first since 2016. Top 10 stars Taylor Fritz<\/a> and Ben Shelton<\/a> lead American hopes.<\/p>\n ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch during the 2026 BNP Paribas Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1) Can Alcaraz maintain his perfect start to the season? Alcaraz arrives in Indian Wells holding a perfect 12-0 record on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index. The 22-year-old Spaniard completed the Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open<\/a> and then won his 13th ATP 500 title in Doha. The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings is a two-time champion in Indian Wells.<\/p>\n 2) Can Sinner complete the set? Sinner has won all five of the other ATP Masters 1000 hard-court events but is yet to triumph in the Californian desert. The Italian, chasing his first trophy of 2026, reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n 3) Djokovic seeks record sixth crown: If Djokovic can triumph at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for the first time since 2016, he will move clear of Roger Federer<\/a> as a record six-time champion. The 38-year-old Serbian is competing for the first time since he reached the Australian Open<\/a> final last month.<\/p>\n You May Also Like: BNP Paribas Open 2026: Draws, Dates, History & All You Need To Know<\/a><\/p>\n 4) Fritz spearheads home charge: Fritz knows how to get over the line in Indian Wells. The Californian, who frequently visited the BNP Paribas Open<\/a> during his childhood, overcame Rafael Nadal<\/a> to win the biggest title of his career at the 2022 tournament. The 28-year-old\u2019s best result this season was a final run at the ATP 500 event in Dallas.<\/p>\n 5) American charge: Ben Shelton<\/a>, Frances Tiafoe<\/a>, Tommy Paul<\/a>, Learner Tien<\/a> and Brandon Nakashima<\/a> will all be seeded on home soil in Indian Wells. World No. 8 Shelton won the title in Dallas and is seeking his second Masters 1000 trophy after winning Toronto last season. Tiafoe (2023) and Paul (2024) are former semi-finalists in Indian Wells, while Tien is searching for his first win at the event. Nakashima reached the fourth round last year.<\/p>\n 6) Defending champion Draper: Jack Draper<\/a> returned to the ATP Tour in Dubai last week after being sidelined for six months due to a left arm injury. The British lefty won the biggest trophy of his career last year in Indian Wells, where he defeated Holger Rune<\/a> in the championship match. Cameron Norrie<\/a> is also in the draw. The 30-year-old won Indian Wells in 2021.<\/p>\n 7) Zverev seeks winning formula: World No. 4 Alexander Zverev<\/a> is a seven-time Masters 1000 champion but has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals in Indian Wells. The 28-year-old German will hope to change that record this fortnight.<\/p>\n 8) Top 10 threats: Lorenzo Musetti<\/a>, Alex de Minaur<\/a>, Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a> and Alexander Bublik<\/a> are all chasing their first Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells. De Minaur, Auger-Aliassime and Bublik have all lifted tour-level trophies this year, triumphing in Rotterdam, Montpellier and Hong Kong, respectively.<\/p>\n 9) Next Gen stars Fonseca & Jodar in action: Joao Fonseca<\/a> will hope to kick-start his year in Indian Wells, where he is making his second appearance. The 19-year-old Brazilian, who is 1-3 on the season, is joined in the draw by 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar<\/a>. Jodar has earned three tour-level wins in 2026 and will make his debut at the hard-court event after receiving a wild card.<\/p>\n 10) Medvedev\/Tien headline fun doubles draw: Tien leads Medvedev 3-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series but they will join forces in the doubles draw in Indian Wells. Other teams include Karen Khachanov<\/a> and Andrey Rublev<\/a>, Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a> and Sebastian Korda<\/a>, and Alex de Minaur<\/a> and John Peers<\/a>. Marcelo Arevalo<\/a> and Mate Pavic<\/a> are the defending champions.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scouting Report Scouting Report: Alcaraz & Sinner seek Indian Wells success, Djokovic chases title record An executive summary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-509890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\u201cATP\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/atp-no-1-club-banner-article.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n