Turin, 3 March (LaPresse) – The draw has been made for the Indian Wells Masters 1000, the first of the season, scheduled to take place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (prize money of $9,415,725) alongside the WTA 1000. Jannik Sinner (11-3), No. 2 in the ATP rankings, occupies the last quarter of the draw: with him are Ben Shelton (8), his possible opponent in the round of 16, and Jakub Mensik, who defeated him in Doha (12). The Italian will make his debut in the second round against Australian James Duckworth (83) or a qualifier. In the third round, he could face Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Denis Shapovalov or Stefanos Tsitsipas, before a round of 16 match against Karen Khachanov (ATP No. 16) or Tommy Paul (world No. 24, No. 23 in the draw) and a quarter-final against Shelton or Mensik. As for the other Italians, Luciano Darderi and Matteo Arnaldi are in the first quarter, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, world No. 1, and Alex De Minaur, world No. 6. Luciano Darderi (0-1), boosted by his best ranking of No. 21, returns to Indian Wells for the second consecutive year after being eliminated in the first round by France's Hugo Gaston in 2025. He will make his debut against the winner of a qualifying match, directly in the second round. A possible third-round matchup with Alexander Bublik, No. 10, could precede a potential eighth-round match against De Minaur. Matteo Arnaldi (3-2), No. 85 in the ATP rankings, will play against a qualifier with the aim of challenging Britain's Cameron Norrie, No. 29 in the world, in the second round: we are in Alex De Minaur's eighth. The Sanremo native returns for the third time to the main draw at Indian Wells, where he attempted to qualify for the first time in the tournament and in a Masters 1000 in 2023, without success. In 2025, he reached the third round, his best result in the tournament. In his debut on the board in 2024, he was defeated in the second round by Spain's Carlos Alcaraz.
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