5 men's players who need to find their form back at Indian Wells 2025 for their own good ft. Novak Djokovic, Frances Tiafoe

Novak Djokovic and Frances Tiafoe are among two in the Indian Wells men's singles main draw who would look to turn their seasons around at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Djokovic, despite his past accomplishments, has had to endure a rather controversial start to the 2025 tennis season. Meanwhile, Tiafoe's results have been plagued by inconsistencies.

However, the Serb and the American aren't the only ones who are likely to look at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells as a great opportunity to muster deep runs and rise up the ATP Tour rankings. Read on to know more about the five ATP stars who are likely to leverage the prestigious hardcourt event in the Californian desert to kickstart their respective seasons.

1. Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic at the 2025 Australian Open (Source: Getty)

The 24-time Major champion's season started at the Brisbane International, and everything went well up until his quarterfinal clash against Reilly Opelka. The American ultimately stunned the Serb to win the contest 7-6(6), 6-3.

Novak Djokovic then engineered a run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, with the win over Carlos Alcaraz in the quarters being the highlight. However, in the semis against Alexander Zverev, the former No. 1 couldn't carry on as a muscle tear played spoilsport, much to the ire of the Melbourne crowd.

The Serb hasn't played since then, but is set to return to action at Indian Wells, where he is a five-time champion. Last year, he took part in the ATP Masters 1000 event, but was shocked by Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi in the Round of 32.

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2. Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe (Source: Getty)

Arguably one of the most talented players on the ATP Tour, Frances Tiafoe has been time and again let down by his failure to produce consistent results, and things have been no different this year.

The two-time US Open semifinalist started his 2025 tennis season at the Brisbane International but lost his Round of 16 clash against the big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. A second-round humbling came next at the Australian Open, as the American lost a five-set marathon to Fabian Marozsan.

Another Round of 16 exit followed at the Dallas Open, with Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka registering a comeback victory at the ATP 500 event. Most recently, Tiafoe came up second-best to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Mexican Open. The 2023 edition of Indian Wells marked the American's best finish at the event, a run to the semifinals before a loss to Daniil Medvedev.

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3. Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev at the 2025 Rio Open (Source: Getty)

At the 2025 Australian Open, Alexander Zverev stormed into the final on the back of some convincing performances that had people believing that the German would finally break his Grand Slam duck. Unfortunately for Zverev though, he came up against a ruthless Jannik Sinner in the final and fell to a humiliating loss.

However, what followed next was even more chastening. With the German choosing to participate in the Latin American swing, there were hopes that he would become World No. 1 for the first time in his career considering Sinner's ongoing three-month ban.

Shockingly, things didn't work out for Zverev at all across Argentina, Chile and Mexico, as he couldn't even reach the semifinals in any of the events there. Controversially, he left Acapulco frustrated following his loss to American teenager Learner Tien, without even attending the post-match press conference that he was announced for. At Indian Wells, the German registered two quarterfinal finishes in 2021 and then again in 2024.

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4. Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev at the 2025 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (Source: Getty)

The 2023 Italian Open marked Daniil Medvedev's last title triumph on the ATP Tour. Since then, the eccentric Russian has made multiple finals, including two Major finals, but hasn't been able to win any of them.

Part of that has had to do with Novak Djokovic's enduring longevity and the rapid rise of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Another part though, has had to do with Medvedev himself, as he has frequently fallen prey to sudden, unexpected on-court meltdowns.

Medvedev has also frequently complained about the pace of the balls and courts on the ATP Tour and how it doesn't suit his game. Most recently, he was ousted from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships by Tallon Griekspoor. The encounter was marred by a controversial exchange between Medvedev and chair umpire Adel Nour, with the Russian accusing the official of displaying "double standards" against players from the Eastern European nation.

The former No. 1 is a two-time runner-up at Indian Wells, having lost at the last hurdle to Carlos Alcaraz last year and the year before as well.

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5. Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz at the 2025 Dallas Open (Source: Getty)

Despite sitting pretty at a career high ranking of World No. 4, Taylor Fritz's 2025 tennis season so far hasn't nearly been as pretty. To this day, the American's biggest achievement remains his remarkable Indian Wells final victory over the legendary Rafael Nadal in 2022, when he played through pain to defeat one of the all-time greats of the sport.

Fritz rose from strength to strength in 2024, and reached his maiden Major final at the US Open. He also made it to the final of the year-end Nitto ATP Finals. On both occasions though, he lost to Jannik Sinner.

This year, he kicked things off in style at the United Cup alongside Coco Gauff, leading the USA to victory. Since then however, things have gone downhill for the California native. He was ousted from the Australian Open by the aging Gael Monfils (third round), from the Dallas Open by Denis Shapovalov (second round) and most recently by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from the Delray Beach Open (quarterfinals).