With world No 1 Jannik Sinner absent as he serves his three-month suspension for failing a drugs test at Indian Wells last year, Alcaraz is the first favourite to lift the title at a tournament where he always feels at home.
Yet a glance at the ATP Race standings suggests the young Spaniard could face some new threats from in-form players who will be keen to chase the big prize money and ranking points up for grabs in Indian Wells.
The ATP Race rankings are based on results in 2025, with this calculation producing an end-of-year top eight that gain entry to the ATP Finals in Turin next November.
Sinner tops the ATP Race rankings after he claimed 2,000 ranking points in the only tournament he played this year so far at the Australian Open.
World No 2 Alexander Zverev is in second place in the ATP Race rankings after his run to the Australian Open final, yet it is the names just below that who could be among worth watching at Indian Wells.
This Canadian opted against playing in the Davis Cup for Canada last November as he took some time away from the sport to recharge his energies ahead of the 2025 season.
That decision has repeated some impressive rewards this year as Auger-Aliassime has more wins on his record than any other player in the men’s game.
His run to the Dubai Final saw him take his match win tally for this season to 15 and he is heading to Indian Wells in confident form.
“I feel like I’ve been digging very deep and pushing my body a lot these last few weeks,” said Auger-Aliassime after he lost against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Dubai final.
“I feel like I need a bit of reset to rest, train again, work on my things and be outside of the match court for a few days. I’m positive after that I’ll have the right energy to step back into the competition.
“It’s been a great first two months. I can’t complain. Tennis is never perfect. Maybe Roger in 2005, ‘6. Never perfect. You try to improve all the time. You try to learn from matches like this. I’m positive I’ll have my chances to win big trophies this year’
