It’s incredible what can change in a week, let alone a year.
Seven days ago, Daniil Medvedev had just comfortably defeated Stan Wawrinka in the round of 16 at the Dubai Open. Meanwhile his compatriots Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov had won and lost their singles matches in the tournament respectively.
Today, the Russian trio find themselves snarled by the growing Middle East crisis. With Dubai suffering attacks, and its airport mainly shut, Medvedev, Rublev and Khachanov will need creative options to reach Indian Wells in time, if it can be done at all.
Speaking of which, a year ago, Jack Draper claimed the biggest title of his career as he defeated Holger Rune 6-2 6-2 in the Indian Wells final. For both men, it looked like an important rung on the ladder towards the top two.
But soon after, injury disrupted the 2025 season for both.
At Wimbledon, Draper suffered bone bruising during his second round loss which eventually curtailed his season in September. Meanwhile, Rune suffered an awful rupture of his left achilles in October.
While the Brit has tentatively resumed play in recent weeks, we still await the Dane’s return. Rune is another player embroiled in the recent travel chaos as he rehabs in Qatar.
Despite the extraordinary chaos that has engulfed a growing list of countries, Indian Wells will take place this fortnight and the usual suspects are the presumptive favourites.
Carlos Alcaraz, who is still unbeaten in 2026, will attempt to snatch his third title in Tennis Paradise. The world no.1 will probably have Grigor Dimitrov, Casper Ruud, Alexander Bublik and Alex de Minaur to contend with as he progresses through the top quarter.
In the last four, the Spaniard might face a prospective battle with old rival Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz or Medvedev (if he makes it). But as we have seen in recent times, if Alcaraz plays at his highest level, no one can stand beside him.
Downstairs, the slightly vulnerable Jannik Sinner has some quality players for company in the bottom quarter. Tommy Paul, Jakub Mensik, Ben Shelton and Learner Tien are not to be trifled with if the Italian turns up a little below his best. Remember that the Czech defeated the world no.2 in Doha last month.
Elsewhere, there could be a competitive third quarter with Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime set to duke it out.
On the women’s side, the draw certainly could have been kinder to world no.1 Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian might start out against big serving Alycia Parks before possible bouts with rising star Iva Jovic, four-time major winner Naomi Osaka, Victoria Mboko, and regular nemesis Amanda Anisimova just to get out of the top quarter.
If Sabalenka makes it through those obstacles, she will probably face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals. While the American has had her struggles of late, Gauff has an excellent quarter to work with though there could be a surprise from someone like Alexandra Eala.
In the bottom half, there’s plenty of talent to get excited by as two-time winner Iga Swiatek leads a bottom quarter that also contains defending champion Mirra Andreeva, Karolina Muchova, Elina Svitolina and Qinwen Zheng. We could get some great matches there.
As for the third quarter, the absolutely bang-in-form Jessica Pegula will probably duke it out with Elena Rybakina for a place in the last four, though there could be a word from Belinda Bencic or possibly Madison Keys.
NEWS
- A Challenger event in the United Arab Emirates was cancelled due to the growing Iran Crisis. Players and officials fled the courts after a security alert.
- Daniil Medvedev claimed his second title of the season in Dubai after Tallon Griekspoor withdrew before the final. The 30-year-old has an impressive 13-3 record in 2026.
- There were some fresh winners on the WTA Tour as Cristina Bucsa lifted Mérida while Peyton Stearns took the Austin trophy. Bucsa upset top seed Jasmine Paolini en route to her first WTA title.
- Flavio Cobolli had a good week in Acapulco as he claimed his third career title. The Italian beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 6-4 in the ATP 500 final. Another Italian, Luca Darderi, took the Santiago title on clay.
- Craig Tiley, the long-time head of the Australian Open, is set to become the new CEO of the USTA.
- Finally, I mentioned Stefanos Tsitsipas last week. Well, the Greek lost in the first round of Dubai to Ugo Humbert and now finds himself at no.43 in the rankings after losing a plethora of points. Once the world no.3, the 27-year-old is at his lowest placing since May 2018.
Photo of the Week
In this section, I dig out an image from my vault of photos taken at various tournaments on tour. You can check out my growing galleries here.
The Dane unfortunately ruptured his achilles in Stockholm last October but seems to be on the mend. While his personality can divide opinion, the 22-year-old has a phenomenal game when it all clicks. Let’s hope he can make a swift return and recover his place in the game’s top 10.
