Indian Wells: Hot Tips for Men's Draw | Thebigtip

It's been about six weeks since Novak Djokovic claimed his second Australian Open crown and now the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments kick into gear. It begins with the BNP Paribas event at Indian Wells.

Here is my preview.

First Quarter: This is No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal's part of the draw. Some pretty good names in this quarter including Monaco, Baghdatis, Almagro, Tsonga, Simon and Ferrer. Ultimately though, I think Rafa will have a little bit too much class and make his way to the semi-finals in this part of the draw.

Second Quarter: You would think one of Robin Soderling or Andy Murray would come out of this quarter, but I would keep an eye on Juan Martin Del Potro. Coming back from a long injury layoff in 2010 and starting to work his way into some form. Probably won't be at his best for a while yet but should win a couple of matches. I think Andy Murray gets the job done.

Third Quarter: There's been no hotter player in 2011 than Serb Novak Djokovic. Won the Australian Open for the second time, then won in Doha thrashing Roger Federer in the Final. Finally starting to believe in himself and that he really does belong with Nadal and Federer. If anyone is going to take that No. 1 ranking from Nadal, Djokovic is the man. Plenty of big servers in this part of the draw with Roddick, Isner, Melzer, Llodra and Gulbis and also flashy Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Apart from Roddick though, I can't see anyone competing with Djokovic with the form he's currently in.

Fourth Quarter: Roger Federer is the No. 2 seed coming into Indian Wells, but the loss to Djokovic in the Doha final won't give him great confidence coming into Indian Wells. It certainly won't be easy for him as straight out of the ranks is Russian Igor Andreev in the 2nd Round. Igor is a guy that always gives Roger trouble. Then there's Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka that all pose threats to Roger. I think Tomas Berdych goes through to the semi-finals from this part of the draw.