Alcaraz chases third straight Indian Wells title; Sabalenka swoons over new, faster court surfaces

Indian Wells: Carlos Alcaraz will take a softly-softly approach as he vies to become just the third man to win three straight titles at Indian Wells, where he could find a member of that exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, standing in his way in the quarter-finals.

“I will try not to think about it,” Alcaraz said of his bid to match the treble feat achieved by Djokovic in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and Roger Federer in 2004, ‘05 and ‘06.

“I will try just to enjoy it,” Alcaraz told reporters Tuesday as he prepped for the elite ATP Masters 1000 tournament that starts Wednesday alongside a WTA 1000 tournament.

“This tournament, every time that I come here, I enjoy so much practicing, playing. Everything for me here is so easy.

“So I will try not to think about it, just flow and see how it’s going to be, the tournament. But it is something that for me would be great to achieve.”

Alcaraz, coming off a quarter-final defeat in the Qatar Open, is seeded second behind Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who finished runner-up at the Australian Open to Italian world number one Jannik Sinner.

Sinner last month accepted a belated three-month ban after testing positive a year ago for traces of banned Clostebol.

The case initially saw him exonerated when authorities accepted his explanation that the drug entered his system when a physiotherapist using it to treat a wound gave him a massage.

The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed, the case dragging on through Sinner’s triumph at the Australian Open this year.

Alcaraz said Sinner’s absence doesn’t change his approach “at all”.

“I mean, Jannik’s not playing, but there are a lot of the best players in the world (that) are playing here,” he said. “I think the draw is really open.

“I’m just focused on my things, on myself, and I try to play good tennis here.”

The Spaniard could face a formidable quarter-final test in Djokovic, who owns five Indian Wells titles overall.

Serbian superstar Djokovic leads their career head-to-head 5-3, including a quarter-final triumph in four sets at the Australian Open.

All 32 seeded players receive a first-round bye, and Djokovic could face a tricky second-round opener against Nick Kyrgios.

The Australian, who fell to Djokovic in the 2022 Wimbledon final, will open against a qualifier.

Top-seeded Zverev is chasing a first Indian Wells title while third-seeded American Taylor Fritz lifted the trophy in the California desert in 2022.

Norway’s Casper Ruud is seeded fourth and Russian Daniil Medvedev -- runner-up to Alcaraz the past two years -- is seeded fifth.

The first-round spotlight will be on wild card Joao Fonseca, the 18-year-old Brazilian who upset Andre Rublev at the Australian Open and lifted his first ATP title in Buenos Aires in February.

Fonseca will open his campaign against Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, who has climbed from outside the top 500 in he world rankings this time last year to 81st.

Meanwhile, World number one Aryna Sabalenka is enamoured with the new surfaces at Indian Wells, the Belarusian believing the faster courts will play into her powerful game, while Carlos Alcaraz said he did not understand the reason for the change.

Indian Wells, which has long been known for its gritty, slow hard courts, has been resurfaced this year by Laykold, the company that also provides surfaces for the Miami Open and U.S. Open, in an effort to make playing conditions more consistent.

“I love them (the courts). They’re a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?” Sabalenka told reporters on Tuesday.

“It feels good so far. I’ll tell you later after my first match. I hope I’ll still like it,” she added with a smile.

Another big server, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, said she had not noticed a huge change when she practised on them.

Agencies