Indian Wells, the first of the nine Masters 1000 category tournaments on the tennis calendarwill begin this Wednesday in the American Californian desert sin the Serbian Novak Djokovic nor the Spanish Rafael Nadal, and with seven Argentines headed by Francisco Cerúndolo and Sebastián Báez.
The contest, which will distribute prizes for $10,143,750 and will last until Sunday, March 19is played jointly between the ATP and the WTA at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with a central court with capacity for 16,000 spectators and the presence of the best on the circuit, except Djokovic, world ranking leader, and “Rafa” Christmas (9).
In the case of the Serb, his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus condemned him since in the United States it is an essential requirement and for that reason he will miss Indian Wells, and also the next stop of the Masters 1000 series in Miami, as it has happened in the last four years, since he last participated in 2019.
Nadal, for his part, who shares the record for Grand Slams won with 22 trophies each with the Serbian, was injured during the Australian Open. and it is estimated that his return will take place in April on the European brick dust tour.
The absence in Indian Wells will cost Nadal dearly, while the same could happen to Djokovic. In that sense, Rafa will leave the “top ten” after almost 18 years, since April 25, 2005, since he will lose the points he scored when he was a finalist last year. In the case of Nole, could give the number one in the world to Carlos Alcaraz, 19, from Murcia, who will take it from him if he wins the title.
Alcaraz (2), who left behind a hamstring injury in his right leg during the final he lost to the British Camero Norrie in Rio de Janeiro, did not participate last week in Acapulco’s ATP 500 and is the great favorite to stay with the trophy.
The Murcian, champion of the Argentina Open last month, will have as Main rivals are the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), the Norwegian Casper Ruud (4), the American Taylor Fritz (5), who will defend the title he won last year, and the Russian Daniil Medvedev (6).the fashionable tennis player after having won titles in series in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.
As for the Argentinesthey will beThe two with the best ranking, Fran Cerúndolo (32) and Sebastián Báez (35), who will also enter to play directly in the second round, and also Diego Schwartzman, Federico Coria, Tomás Martín Etcheverry from La Plata, Pedro Cachín from Cordoba and the Bahiense Guido Pella.
Cerúndolo will debut in the second round against the Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (65) or the American server Jack Sock (154)while Báez, champion this year at the Córdoba Open, will do so against the Swede Mikael Ymer (57) or a rival emerged from the classification.
Meanwhile, the “Little” Schwartzman (38) will play in the initial round with Federico Coria (64) with the mission of overcoming the defeats in their debuts at the Córdoba Open, Argentina Open, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, Chile. The winner of the cross between the Argentines will play in the next round with the Norwegian Ruud (3)third favorite for the title.
Etcheverry (61) from La Plata, finalist last Sunday at the ATP 250 in Santiago, Chile, will face the British Andy Murray (55). In the case of winning, Etcheverry will play in the next round with the Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta (17).
The Cordovan from Bell Ville Pedro Cachín (66) will debut against the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (118)who was a finalist in Indian Wells in 2021 (he lost the final to the British Cameron Norrie) and the winner will then go to the German Alexander Zverev (14).
For his part, Guido Pella (739) from Bahia will participate in the tournament with a “protected ranking” due to an injury that kept him inactive for a year, and will debut against Brazilian left-hander Thiago Monteiro (78)..
The contest had only one Argentine champion throughout history, Juan Martín Del Potro from Tandil, who lifted the trophy in the 2018 edition. On that occasion, Del Potro defeated the Swiss Roger Federer, from whom he took the unbeaten record of the first 18 matches of the year after defeating him in the final 6-4, 6-7 (8) and 7-6 (2). .
In it In the ladies’ draw will be the Polish Iga Swiatek (1), top favorite for the title and champion in 2022, and her rival to beat will be the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2), winner of the Australian Open last month. There will also be other elite tennis players like the American Jessica Pegula (3), Tunisian Ons Jabeur (4), French Caroline García (5), American Coco Gauff (6) and Greek María Sakkari (7)among the most prominent.