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Unlike the other side, the bottom half of the Indian Wells draw remains stacked and there a four all-seeded showdowns on Wednesday’s schedule. Carlos Alcaraz vs. Grigor Dimitrov and Taylor Fritz vs. Jack Draper.
(14) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (2) Carlos Alcaraz
Dimitrov vs. Gael Monfils on Monday night was the match of the tournament–at least up to this point. The good news for Dimitrov is that he won it; the bad news is that the 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(2) thriller lasted more than three hours and both veterans were completely gassed well before it even ended.
What will the 33-year-old Bulgarian have left in the tank. He will obviously need everything with Alcaraz on the other side of the net for this fourth-round contest on Wednesday. Dimitrov has surprisingly won two straight in the head-to-head series (5-7, 6-2, 6-4 at the 2023 Shanghai Masters and 6-2, 6-4 at the 2024 Miami Masters), but Alcaraz still holds an overall 3-2 advantage. The 21-year-old Spaniard was dominant earlier in the fortnight against Quentin Halys and Denis Shapovalov, plus he is the two-time defending champion of this tournament. To say all of that is more bad news for Dimitrov would be a gross understatement.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
(13) Jack Draper vs. (3) Taylor Fritz
Based on their head-to-head history, a fun one should be in the cards between Fritz and Draper on Wednesday. They have split their four previous meetings at 2-2 and three of the four have required deciding sets. Draper won their most recent encounter 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4 this past fall on the indoor hard courts of the Paris Masters.
Fritz is the favorite on paper as the world No. 4 and he has home-court advantage as a California native and former Indian Wells champion (2022), but this appears to be a favorable spot for Draper. Whereas an abdominal injury has contributed to a slow start to the season for Fritz, Draper is on a roll. The 14th-ranked Brit 9-2 in 2025 with a runner-up performance in Doha and straight-set victories in the desert over Joao Fonseca and Jenson Brooksby. Fritz was unspectacular during a three-set defeat of Alejandro Tabilo on Monday and could be vulnerable against a far tougher opponent.
Pick: Draper in 3
