Novak Djokovic could play Nick Kyrgios in the second round of Indian Wells after being handed a tricky path to the final. The draw was completed in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with the Serb also in line to meet reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight. Djokovic has received a bye to the second round, where he will face either Kyrgios or a qualifier.

Kyrgios, using a protected ranking for the tournament, is one of the few players to boast a positive record against Djokovic. He has won two of their previous three meetings, with his only defeat coming in the Wimbledon final in 2022. They have had a rocky relationship over the years but are now friends, with Djokovic finding an ally in Kyrgios after his ordeal at the Australian Open in 2021. The man from Canberra felt Djokovic had been mistreated when it came to his vaccination stance and not being allowed to play in Melbourne.

If Djokovic makes it through his second-round clash, he will go up against Francisco Cerundulo or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three while a potential meeting with Alex de Minaur is on the cards in round four.

In the quarter-finals, he is likely to face Alcaraz after being placed in the same half of the draw as his Spanish rival. They recently met in the last eight of the Australian Open, with Djokovic pulling off a brilliant victory on that occasion. Alcaraz is eyeing a historic three-peat at Indian Wells, having won the last two editions of the tournament.

A semi-final meeting with Casper Ruud could await Djokovic if he prevails against Alcaraz again, while top seed Alexander Zverev will be a potential opponent for the final.

It remains to be seen if Djokovic will be able to put his recent injury concerns behind him to fight for the title at Indian Wells. He has won the tournament on five previous occasions, a record he shares with Roger Federer, but has not lifted the trophy since 2016.

He will continue to be helped by Andy Murray, who joined his coaching team for the Australian Open and has reprised his role ahead of Indian Wells and the upcoming Miami Open. The pair gave themselves time to reflect on their work in Melbourne before deciding they would remain together ‘indefinitely’.

“We had a chat the day after I finished,” said Djokovic. “We reflected on the period we spent together. We agreed he was going to take some time and think, speak with his family members and see if he decides to keep working.

“I expressed my desire to continue the collaboration with him so I am really glad he did accept. It is indefinite in terms of how long we are going to work together, but we agreed most likely in the States and some clay-court tournaments. We will see how it goes after that.”