This year’s edition of Indian Wells promises to be as exciting as ever. We’re a couple of months into 2022, and the narratives that we’re seeing in the men’s game are as interesting as they have ever been. Let’s look at the storylines.

Danill Medvedev (1)

Medvedev is now the number one player in the world, and deservedly so. He’s the reigning US Open champion and Australian Open finalist. He’s had the best record on hard courts in the last six months. He’s the first man not named Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, or Murray to be number one in the world in 18 years. Medvedev is a beast on the court. He’s relentless and does not give an inch. He’ll be right there in either the final or the semifinal.

Novak Djokovic (2)

After all the drama at the Australian Open, Djokovic participated in his first tournament of the year in Dubai. Unfortunately for Djokovic, he was stopped in the quarterfinals by Jiri Vesely. Not exactly the return he had planned. We shall see how his form and his head are doing at Indian Wells. Novak can win this tournament, regardless of whether he’s had consistent match play.

Alex Zverev (3)

After the massive meltdown in Acapulco, it will be interesting to see where Zverev’s head is at. Will he forget about the embarrassing episode, or will it linger in his mind and affect his game? Either way, Zverev is not having the start of the year he had hoped for after his massive win at the ATP Finals. I don’t expect much from Zverev at Indian Wells.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (4)

Tsitsipas has pretty much gone cold in the last few months. He had an amazing first half of 2021, followed by lackluster performances the rest of the way. Expect more lackluster performances in the next few months.

Rafael Nadal (5)

No player is having a better season than Nadal thus far. Nadal is undefeated in 2022, winning both the Australian Open and the Mexican Open. In both instances, he had to get through the mighty Daniil Medvedev to claim victory. We are seeing a spirit and resurgence from Nadal very similar to Federer’s back in 2017 when he came back from knee surgery to claim three more Grand Slams in his mid-thirties. The man from Mallorca is hungry so look out ATP.

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