{"id":1816784,"date":"2026-03-09T22:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1816784"},"modified":"2026-03-09T22:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:59:18","slug":"why-novak-djokovics-next-match-at-indian-wells-will-provide-a-big-pointer-for-both-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1816784","title":{"rendered":"Why Novak Djokovic&#8217;s next match at Indian Wells will provide a big pointer for both players"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Why Novak Djokovic\u2019s next match at Indian Wells will provide a big pointer for both players<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/kevin-palmer\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Kevin Palmer                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"09 Mar 2026 10:59 PM\" data-ps-date=\"09 Mar 2026 10:59 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1773097158\"><br \/>\n                            09 Mar 2026 10:59 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br 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<a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Why Novak Djokovic\u2019s next match at Indian Wells will provide a big pointer for both players\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMAGE-LEFT-TEXT-RIGHT-ALIGNED-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Novak Djokovic<\/a> came through a tough match against American Aleksandar Kovacevic to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time since 2017, as he set up an intriguing contest that will give the tennis world a pointer to what to expect in the developing 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic overcame an alarming second set wobble to beat Kovacevic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, with the Serbian legend making progress in a tournament that has not been kind to him since his last win in the Californian desert since the last of his five wins in the tournament a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p>Since making his Indian Wells debut in 2005, Djokovic has tallied a 51-11 win-loss record at the tournament, including a joint-record five titles alongside Roger Federer, but he has struggled to make his mark in this event in recent years and was relieved to get through against Kovacevic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a great performance from Aleks. We know each other. We speak the same language. His whole family is Serbian,\u201d said Djokovic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s great to see him doing well. He\u2019s played a great tournament so far. I knew coming into the match that if he serves well and picks his spots, it was going to be hard to break him. That\u2019s what happened, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>More Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/can-carlos-alcaraz-break-one-of-novak-djokovic-greatest-atp-records\">Can Carlos Alcaraz really break one of Novak Djokovic\u2019s greatest ATP Tour records?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-gives-gruelling-and-demanding-response-after-asked-if-women-should-play-five-set-matches\">Novak Djokovic gives \u2018gruelling and demanding\u2019 response when asked if women should play five-set matches<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Djokovic\u2019s win, along with a victory for defending champion Jack Draper against Francisco Cerundolo, sets up an intriguing clash between the Serbian and the Brit in the fourth round.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tennis is one thing, the person and the player I\u2019ve been watching since I was a young boy, in my opinion, he\u2019s the greatest player of all time,\u201d Draper told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s shown year in year out through his consistency that he\u2019s the biggest champion of them all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you go up against him you know he\u2019ll be there mentally, you know he\u2019ll make it an incredibly tough match and play some crazy tennis and I\u2019m going to have to be ready for that and up my game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefinitely going to have to compete hard and prepare well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the last eight months, I\u2019ve really wanted to be back out on court but had to accept that it was going to be a pretty long-term injury I was going to have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really good to get back in the feeling where I\u2019m able to play back-to-back matches because there was a point where if I played one practice session, I couldn\u2019t do another one. To be here, I\u2019m very grateful regardless of the way I\u2019m playing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This will be the first meeting between Djokovic and Draper since they clashed at Wimbledon in 2021, when the Brit was very much a young gun and a rising start playing against a superstar rival.<\/p>\n<p>Now the balance will be shifted, as defending Indian Wells champion Draper may go into this contest as a favourite to get a win against his veteran opponent if his power-packed game is firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n<p>Draper is on his way back from a long injury lay off with a bone bruising issue in his arm, so there are still some doubts over where his levels are at.<\/p>\n<p>If he can come through a match against Djokovic, the player who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-out-indian-wells-jack-draper-rankings-breakthrough\">beat Carlos Alcaraz on his way to winning the Indian Wells Masters<\/a>\u00a0title a year ago will be a contender to go all the way once again.<\/p>\n<p>As for Djokovic, if he can get past Draper and go deep in Indian Wells, it will back up the theory that he is more focused on what may be a final push at glory in events outside of the Grand Slams in 2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-survives-huge-indian-wells-scare-as-star-overcomes-physical-concerns\">Novak Djokovic survives huge Indian Wells scare as star overcomes physical concerns<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why Novak Djokovic\u2019s next match at Indian Wells will provide a big pointer for both players Kevin Palmer 09 Mar 2026 10:59 PM Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper Novak Djokovic came through a tough match against American Aleksandar Kovacevic to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time since 2017, as he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1816784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1816784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1816784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1816784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1816784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}