Indian Wells 2025: 5 favorites to win the men's singles title ft. Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic

The BNP Paribas Open 2025, also known as the Indian Wells Masters, will mark the start of an intense few months on the ATP Tour. The season's first Masters 1000 tournament will be held from March 5-16 and will take place in sunny California.

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner won't be participating as he's in the middle of serving his three-month ban. The rest of the top 30 is accounted for, though not everyone is in good shape. Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul, and Holger Rune all had to pull out of the Mexican Open due to stomach issues. If the trio don't recover in time, it could affect how they perform here.

Daniil Medvedev, the runner-up here for the last two years, has been far from his impressive best. Despite some of the big names being in a state of disarray, there are a few who tower above the rest. On that note, here's a look at the five leading contenders to win the men's singles title at this year's Indian Wells Masters:

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#5. Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz at the Indian Wells Masters 2022. (Phoot: Getty)

Fritz had a strong start to the year and won the United Cup with his fellow Americans for the second time. He won four of his five singles matches en route to the title. Having reached the final of the US Open last year, many expected him to make a deep run at the Australian Open this time. However, he bowed out in the third round.

Fritz hasn't won back-to-back matches since then and went out early from his next two tournaments, the Dallas Open and the Delray Beach Open. He later revealed that he was playing through an injury and pulled out of the Mexican Open in order to get back in top shape.

He won the Indian Wells Masters back in 2022 and defeated Rafael Nadal in the final for the biggest triumph of his career thus far. He's one of the handful of former champions in the draw, and if he recovers from his injury, then he could make a play for the title yet again.

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#4. Felix Auger-Aliassime

Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Adelaide International 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Auger-Aliassime has been one of the most in-form players this year. He's the only player to win two titles this season. He won his first title at the Adelaide International and then captured his second title at the Open Occitanie. He also finished as the runner-up to Stefanos Tsitspas at the recently concluded Dubai Tennis Championships.

Auger-Aliassime advanced to his maiden Masters 1000 final at last year's Madrid Open and lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets. However, he was quite inconsistent last season and has stepped up his game by a fair margin this year.

The Canadian had a 15-15 record on hardcourts last year and has already posted a 16-5 record on the surface this year. If he maintains his current level, then it wouldn't be too surprising to see him being crowned as the champion at the Indian Wells Masters.

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#3. Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Zverev advanced to the final of the Australian Open at the start of the season, his third Major final and his first at the venue. However, the third time wasn't the charm for him, and he went down to defending champion Sinner in the final.

Zverev has a chance to possibly dislodge Sinner as the World No. 1 as the latter currently serves his three-month ban. However, his quest for the same has been off to a rocky start due to subpar results. He lost in the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open and the Rio Open and crashed out in the second round of the Mexican Open.

As the World No. 2 and the winner of seven Masters 1000 titles, Zverev remains one of the favorites to go all the way at this year's Indian Wells Masters. He doesn't have a favorable record here and hasn't been beyond the quarterfinals so far. However, he does have the game to change that statistic.

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#2. Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic at the Indian Wells Masters 2016. (Photo: Getty)

Djokovic is one of the most decorated players in the history of the Indian Wells Masters. He holds the record for most titles here with five, alongside Roger Federer. He won his most recent title in the California desert back in 2016. He hasn't made a deep run since then.

The Serb participated in the tournament for the first time since 2019 last year and was stunned by Luca Nardi in the third round. This season has been a mixed bag for him. He showed signs of promise with a semifinal at the Australian Open ,but an injury forced him to retire from his match against Zverev after losing the first set.

Djokovic returned to action at the Qatar Open and was sent packing by Matteo Berrettini in the first round. He hasn't won a Masters 1000 tournament since his triumph at the Paris Masters 2023. Winning the gold medal at last year's Paris Olympics remains the highlight of his past 12 months.

He's gunning for his milestone 100th title, so the pressure is on. He has defied the odds over and over and could do so once again at a venue where he has been quite successful in the past, regardless of his current form.

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#1. Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz at the Indian Wells Masters 2024. (Photo: Getty)

Two-time defending champion Alcaraz is the favorite to win the Indian Wells Masters yet again. He beat Medvedev in the final to win both of his titles here. He has performed quite well this year, with quarterfinal appearances at the Australian Open and the Qatar Open, along with a title at the Rotterdam Open.

With a 16-2 record at the venue, the Indian Wells Masters has become Alcaraz's most successful Masters 1000 tournament. He further benefits from the absence of Sinner, though he won all three of their matches last year, so perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference even if he was present.

Djokovic remains his biggest threat as Alcaraz is yet to beat him on hardcourts and recently lost to him at the Australian Open. If he avoids the Serb, or someone takes him out, then it's tough to see someone else stopping him from claiming his third consecutive title here.