Djokovic stands in the way of Alcaraz's hat-trick bid

Carlos Alcaraz could run into Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals in his quest for a rare Indian Wells "three-peat", while defending women's champion Iga Swiatek also faces a tough test, according to the draw released on March 3.

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INDIAN WELLS – Carlos Alcaraz could run into Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals in his quest for a rare Indian Wells "three-peat", while defending women's champion Iga Swiatek also faces a tough test, according to the draw released on March 3.

Djokovic beat the Spaniard to reach the Australian Open semi-final in January and is aiming to become only the third man to claim 100 career singles titles when the tournament starts on March 5.

The Serb, who has a first-round bye, will hope to have put recent injury concerns behind him as he kicks off his campaign at the ATP 1000-level event against a qualifier or Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios.

The men's draw could also see German top seed Alexander Zverev play Greek rival Stefanos Tsitsipas in a potential quarter-final, while 2022 champion and home hope Taylor Fritz may run into Russian Andrey Rublev in the final eight.