The first Masters 1000 tournament of the 2020 season will see two of the most formidable players of men’s tennis fight it out for both the title and world No.1 honors.
Novak Djokovic, who is the current rankings leader, heads into Indian Wells on an 18-match winning streak and is yet to lose a match in 2020. The stellar start to the year has seen him win titles at the ATP Cup, Australian Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. It is the first season he has entered Indian Wells without losing a match since 2013.
“I’m trying to embrace the moment and appreciate where I am. I think this has been one of the best starts of all the seasons I had in my career.” Djokovic recently told reporters in Dubai.
“I feel great on the court. I’ve been playing great tennis on the hard courts. That is my most successful and preferred surface.
“I’m just grateful that I’m playing well, feeling well. I’ve won many matches now in a row. I’ll try to keep that run going.”
As for the king of clay Nadal, he has also endured a fairly strong start. After winning four out of six matches at the ATP Cup, he fell in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open to Dominic Thiem. The player who Djokovic defeated in the final. However, it was in Mexico where Nadal achieved his best result of the year so far. Winning the Mexican Open without dropping a set in the entire tournament.
“This doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good year; it only gives me confidence and lets me be in a privileged position”, Nadal said following his triumph.
In order for Nadal to topple Djokovic over the coming weeks, he will need to win the Indian Wells title. Something he has done on three previous occasions with the most recent occurring in 2013. 2019 semi-finalist Nadal will be defending 360 points at the tournament compared to just 45 for Djokovic, who lost in the third round last year.
Djokovic could deny his rival the No.1 spot by simply reaching at least the semi-final stage. Then his points lead would be too substantial for Nadal to close. At present, the Serbian has a 370-point lead in the rankings as of this week.
With them both being the top two seeds in the draw, the only way they could face each other would be in the final in what would be a repeat of the 2007 and 2011 tournaments. Nadal won their 2007 showdown and Djokovic won in 2011.
In their meeting earlier this year at the ATP Cup, Djokovic rallied to a 6-2, 7-6(4), victory over Nadal.
Indian Wells record of the big two
