Alcaraz guns for Indian Wells three-peat as Sinner serves ban

INDIAN WELLS, California : Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is the hot favourite to complete a rare Indian Wells three-peat while Poland's Iga Swiatek will look to become the only woman to win the tournament three times when the main draw gets underway on Wednesday in the California desert.

With world number one Jannik Sinner serving a doping suspension, Alcaraz has one fewer obstacle as he bids to join greats Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only players to prevail three consecutive times in "Tennis Paradise".

The 21-year-old Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev in his last two Indian Wells finals and despite falling to Djokovic in the quarter-finals of January's Australian Open, he has enjoyed a strong start to the year with an 11-2 win/loss record.

Djokovic, 37, retired from his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury and lost in the Qatar Open first round last month.

The Serb is hunting a sixth Indian Wells crown, which would break his tie with Federer and make him the third man with 100 career singles titles in the professional era behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Federer (103).

The 24-time Grand Slam champion will also want redemption after his shock loss to tournament lucky loser Luca Nardi in the third round last year in one of the biggest upsets of his career.

America boasts five players in the men's top 25 who can expect strong support from the home crowd every time they step on the hard courts of the palm tree-lined Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Top American Taylor Fritz will look to recreate the magic of his career breakthrough win three years ago, while last year's semi-finalist Tommy Paul hopes for another deep run.

Big-serving lefty Ben Shelton, who reached the Australian Open semis,