Djokovic falls short in Indian Wells and clears the way for Alcaraz

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic faced another early exit at the Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells (USA) on Saturday, while Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz made a strong debut and watched as his main rivals continued to fall.

Alcaraz has already begun his quest for a third consecutive title, but without Italian Jannik Sinner, the world number one, who is suspended until May after testing positive for clostebol.

The first week of competition also saw other ATP top-10 players, including Alexander Zverev (2), Casper Ruud (5), and Andrey Rublev (8), suffer early exits.

They were joined on Saturday by Djokovic (7), who stumbled in his Indian Wells debut, falling to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

"There are no excuses for this poor performance," admitted the Serbian. "It was a bad day—I couldn't find my rhythm."

Van de Zandschulp, who will be rival of Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo in the third round, had already made a bombshell by eliminating Alcaraz from the past U.S. Open.

At 37, Djokovic is still striving to make the most of the final stages of his extraordinary career. A sixth Indian Wells title would have made him the tournament’s most successful champion, surpassing Roger Federer, while also bringing him to a milestone 100 ATP titles.

All those ambitions vanished in his opening match on the Indian Wells center court, where he had also suffered a third-round exit a year earlier against Luca Nardi, then ranked No. 123 in the world.

A sluggish and erratic Djokovic, lacking both energy and intensity, suffered his third consecutive defeat of the year, deepening concerns about the last remaining member of the legendary “Big 3” he once formed with Federer and Nadal.

"Things are different for me in the last two years," he acknowledged. "I've been struggling to play at the desired level (...) Most of the time it's really a challenge."

"I don't think about number one"

Alcaraz, meanwhile, enjoyed a smooth debut against Frenchman Quentin Halys (59), securing a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

The Spanish star, who has won 13 straight matches in the Coachella Valley, will face a tougher test on Monday against Canadian Denis Shapovalov (28th in the ATP).

Although Sinner and Zverev, the top two in the ranking, are out of the tournament, Alcaraz does not want to think about his goal of regaining the top of the ATP.

For that "I have to have good results and win tournaments. If I focus only on regaining the number one ranking, I put myself under extra pressure," he said.

Cerúndolo in, Fonseca out

For the Argentine delegation, Francisco Cerúndolo saved an arduous debut against American Mackenzie McDonald by 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) and 6-1 but Mariano Navone came down to the firepower of local Ben Shelton by 6-3 and 6-2.

South American tennis also lost its great jewel, Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who lost to Briton Jack Draper 6-4, 6-0.

Sabalenka starts at full speed

In the women's WTA 1000, Aryna Sabalenka began her quest for a long-awaited first title with a hard-fought victory over American McCartney Kessler, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

The top seed did not concede a single break opportunity to Kessler and on Monday she will face Italy's Lucia Bronzetti for a place in the round of 16.

Coco Gauff, the third seed, faced much more difficulty in overcoming Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, securing a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory in a match where she committed 21 double faults.