The draw for the Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells has been revealed, with Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov set to start his campaign in the second round. Seeded 14th, he will face the winner of the upcoming match between France’s Arthur Rinderknech and Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
Dimitrov has a positive head-to-head record against Rinderknech, winning two of their three previous meetings. He defeated the Frenchman 6-3, 7-6(3) in the Marseille quarterfinals and 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5) in the Paris Masters opening round. However, his only encounter with Borges resulted in a four-set loss at last year’s Australian Open—7-6(3), 4-6, 2-6, 6-7(6).
Should Dimitrov win his first match, he could face American Sebastian Korda in the third round, with a potential round-of-16 matchup against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. The Spanish star, who won last year’s tournament, will begin against either Quentin Halys or a qualifier, with Denis Shapovalov possibly awaiting him in the third round.
Novak Djokovic is also in the same half of the draw and will start in the second round against either Nick Kyrgios or a qualifier. If both progress, he and Alcaraz could meet in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, top seed Alexander Zverev will open against either Tallon Griekspoor or Miomir Kecmanovic, while 2022 champion Taylor Fritz is set to face either Sebastian Baez or a qualifier.
Ahead of the tournament, Dimitrov has climbed one spot in the ATP rankings, now sitting at world number 15 with 2,745 points. He recently played in the Dubai Championships but withdrew after one set in his opening-round match against Australian Christopher O’Connell.
Elsewhere in Bulgarian tennis, Alexander Donski has made a major leap in the rankings, rising 117 places to world number 650 after winning the singles title at the ITF tournament in Pretoria, South Africa.
In the WTA rankings, Viktoriya Tomova has moved up two places to 63rd with 981 points, maintaining her status as Bulgaria’s top female player. Gergana Topalova follows at 339th, with Liya Karatancheva close behind at 343rd. Isabella Shinikova has re-entered the top 400, while Elizara Yaneva has made the most significant jump, climbing 169 spots to 768th.
At the top of the women’s rankings, Aryna Sabalenka continues to hold the No. 1 spot with 9,076 points, followed by Poland’s Iga Swiatek with 9,785 points and American Coco Gauff in third with
6,333 points.
