Novak Djokovic came through a tough match against American Aleksandar Kovacevic to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time since 2017, as he set up an intriguing contest that will give the tennis world a pointer to what to expect in the developing 2026 season.
Djokovic overcame an alarming second set wobble to beat Kovacevic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, with the Serbian legend making progress in a tournament that has not been kind to him since his last win in the Californian desert since the last of his five wins in the tournament a decade ago.
Since making his Indian Wells debut in 2005, Djokovic has tallied a 51-11 win-loss record at the tournament, including a joint-record five titles alongside Roger Federer, but he has struggled to make his mark in this event in recent years and was relieved to get through against Kovacevic.
“It was a great performance from Aleks. We know each other. We speak the same language. His whole family is Serbian,” said Djokovic.
“It’s great to see him doing well. He’s played a great tournament so far. I knew coming into the match that if he serves well and picks his spots, it was going to be hard to break him. That’s what happened, actually.”
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Djokovic’s win, along with a victory for defending champion Jack Draper against Francisco Cerundolo, sets up an intriguing clash between the Serbian and the Brit in the fourth round.
“The tennis is one thing, the person and the player I’ve been watching since I was a young boy, in my opinion, he’s the greatest player of all time,” Draper told Sky Sports.
“He’s shown year in year out through his consistency that he’s the biggest champion of them all.
“When you go up against him you know he’ll be there mentally, you know he’ll make it an incredibly tough match and play some crazy tennis and I’m going to have to be ready for that and up my game.
“Definitely going to have to compete hard and prepare well.
“In the last eight months, I’ve really wanted to be back out on court but had to accept that it was going to be a pretty long-term injury I was going to have.
“It’s really good to get back in the feeling where I’m able to play back-to-back matches because there was a point where if I played one practice session, I couldn’t do another one. To be here, I’m very grateful regardless of the way I’m playing.”
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This will be the first meeting between Djokovic and Draper since they clashed at Wimbledon in 2021, when the Brit was very much a young gun and a rising start playing against a superstar rival.
Now the balance will be shifted, as defending Indian Wells champion Draper may go into this contest as a favourite to get a win against his veteran opponent if his power-packed game is firing on all cylinders.
Draper is on his way back from a long injury lay off with a bone bruising issue in his arm, so there are still some doubts over where his levels are at.
If he can come through a match against Djokovic, the player who beat Carlos Alcaraz on his way to winning the Indian Wells Masters title a year ago will be a contender to go all the way once again.
As for Djokovic, if he can get past Draper and go deep in Indian Wells, it will back up the theory that he is more focused on what may be a final push at glory in events outside of the Grand Slams in 2026.
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