Taylor Fritz and Maria Sakkari, trailed by a black-clad Netflix camera crew, were greeted by warm applause when they ascended to the outdoor stage on the grounds of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Tuesday. The stars of Break Point Episode 3 arrived just hours after Netflix announced there would be a second season.

Those ubiquitous workers are all over the grounds at ‘Tennis Paradise’, capturing behind-the-scenes moments for episodes that will be seen next year.

“We’re really excited,” Paul Martin, executive producer of Box to Box Films, told the crowd earlier. “Excited to get to play in this space for another year. Hopefully, it continues for 10 more seasons.”

In this season’s Indian Wells episode — titled “California Dreaming” shot at the BNP Paribas Open a year ago — we learned that Sakkari may well be the most caffeinated player on the Hologic WTA Tour (six espressos in a single day!) and, according to Ajla Tomljanovic, super-intense on court but a “teddy bear” off it.

Sakkari, who advanced to the final here before falling to Iga Swiatek, said the series seems to be reaching the casual tennis fan.

“I don’t think we’re like movie stars right now,” Sakkari said, drawing laughter. “It’s just our personalities being exposed — in a good way. I’ve had people coming up to me and saying I watched you on Break Point, but not playing tennis, which I think was very good for the show. I was happy because that whole thing really helps tennis.”

Fritz, whose dramatic drive to the title in his local tournament — he beat Rafael Nadal in the final on a seriously compromised ankle — was the episode’s dominant thread, agreed.

“It’s good to see that because those are people who aren’t tennis fans,” Fritz said. “In the U.S. especially, that’s what we need. So whenever there’s someone saying, `Oh, I saw you on Break Point,’ I see that as someone maybe potentially who might watch tennis as a fan. What it’s been doing for the sport is great. Hopefully that continues.”

The first five episodes of the series were released in advance of the Australian Open, and episodes 6-10, covering the second half of the 2022 season, will drop in June. The early returns were encouraging. Break Point reached the Top 10 in 28 countries, engaging an audience of more than 15 million, with Australia and the United Kingdom at the top of the list.

While it didn’t reach the Top 10 in the United States, given its large population, it generated the largest number of new fans. The featured players experienced a significant bounce in their social media numbers.

“Tennis, being on tour, there’s a really great story to be told,” said Fritz, whose No. 5 Pepperstone ATP Ranking is the highest for an American man since Andy Roddick in 2009. “Because what we do is pretty crazy and a lot of people don’t really know the behind-the-scenes, the traveling, the competing and everything that goes on. I’m glad the reception’s been great.”

Martin, who oversees the series with co-producer James Gay-Rees, revealed how the series came into being. Describing himself as a fan but not necessarily an aficionado, Martin had spent a year talking with Andre Agassi about making a film.

“Just the picture that Andre painted in the tennis bubble, the extremes of highs and lows was just kind of mesmerising, really exciting,” Martin said. “When that project fell away, we always felt there was a way to dive into tennis the way that Andre had talked about we would love the opportunity.”

It came when the Drive to Survive series captured a huge worldwide audience, particularly in America. When Netflix asked Box to Box what other sports might lend themselves to “reality” television, tennis was one of the first answers.

The tale of the injured Fritz’s title run, playing against the wishes of his father and coach, was the kind of narrative that Martin hopes for.

“People have a version of tennis where they see two players walk out on court and they think that they’re 100 per cent fit, at the top of their game,” he said. “They don’t see the physical pain. They might have had an argument with their boyfriend or girlfriend before they walked out on court.

“They don’t see how much baggage these players sometimes take out to the court. That was one of the most extreme examples of it.”

Sakkari drew a nice hand when she told the crowd that Indian Wells is her favorite tournament of the year — and not just because she reached the final a year ago. The public response to her star turn on Netflix has humbled her.

“I never thought that coming from a very small country I would get to the ranking level where I was last year,” she said. “Seeing myself on TV is nothing that I’m used to. It was kind of weird in a way, but also nice to see the different players in the episode.

“It’s the reward for the work I’ve done all these years.”

Learn more about Break Point

Fireworks were already expected in the BNP Paribas Open doubles tournament, with many new-look, star-powered teams joining the ATP Tour’s standard-bearers in a loaded 32-team field. Tuesday’s draw added to the buzz, setting several marquee matchups at the year’s first ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells.

View Doubles Draw

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, who partnered to help Team Canada win the 2022 ATP Cup, join forces again in the desert and face an immediate blockbuster matchup with #NextGenATP stars Holger Rune and Ben Shelton. Rune and Shelton are teaming for the first time after they squared off on the singles court last week in Acapulco, with Rune winning in three sets.

“I think he’s a super fun guy,” Rune said of Shelton following their meeting, calling the American’s serve one of the toughest he’s faced. “I like the way he plays tennis. I think it will be fun. It’s going to be nice to be the one at the net after his big serve.”

The pair is in the bottom half of the draw in the same quarter as second seeds and returning semi-finalists Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who open against Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz. Dimitrov and Hurkacz previously teamed up last year in Rome and competed in singles earlier this season in Rotterdam, where Dimitrov won in two tie-breaks.

Also in the bottom half, defending champions John Isner and Jack Sock meet third seeds and reigning Roland Garros champs Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer. The winner there will face either Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev or Kevin Krawietz and Fabrice Martin in the second round. Another pair of Grand Slam title holders — Australian Open champs Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler — share that quarter, with the Aussies set to meet Austin Krajicek and Mackenzie McDonald in the first round. 

In the top half, the first-time pairing of Casper Ruud and Dominic Thiem meets fourth seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the first round. In addition to Ruud/Thiem, other singles stars teaming up in the top half include Frances Tiafoe and Stan Wawrinka; Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta; Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul; Marcos Giron and J.J. Wolf; and Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego.

Which men’s doubles team are you most looking forward to watching?

Full draw 👉 https://t.co/Pd7lDE0zKt

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 7, 2023

Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski drew Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev in the first round, with the winner to play Tiafoe/Wawrinka or Bautista Agut/Carreno Busta. Zverev reached the Indian Wells doubles semis last season alongside Andrey Golubev.

Also in the top half are returning finalists Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who open against Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

In 2018, Stefanos Tsitsipas announced himself to the world when he captured the Next Gen ATP Finals title. Since then, the Greek has constantly made his mark on Tour, winning the Nitto ATP Finals crown in 2019 and capturing two ATP Masters 1000 trophies.

Driven to reach the top, the 24-year-old Netflix Break Point star is determined to keep evolving on and off court.

“I don’t want to waste a single day of my life being stagnant or staying still and not elevating myself through experiences,” Tsitsipas said. “I have a fear of missing out and I don’t want people to know me only for my tennis. Life is about adventures, life is about creating beautiful memories.”

To dare it, to dream it, to do it 🫶

Get to know what it all means for @steftsitsipas ✨ pic.twitter.com/pfHUN41a1k

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 23, 2023

Having established himself as a consistent member of the Top 10, Tsitsipas now wants to make an impact away from tennis. In recent years, the Greek has produced music and made video diaries, documenting his travel exploits.

“I want to have a broader, bigger empire than just tennis,” Tsitsipas said. “I’ve explored the filmmaking part of what I am capable of and what stories I want to tell. Music allowed me to express something else.”

The 24-year-old enjoys exploring a range of interests and hopes his creations can inspire others.

“I would like to give people the ability to dream and not be afraid,” he said. “And the only way you can get to this place is by seeking discomfort and letting yourself free.”

Jenson Brooksby underwent arthroscopic left wrist surgery on Tuesday in California to repair his tendon subsheath. The American’s tendon was 100 per cent dislocated.

The successful surgery, performed by Dr. Steven Shin, will keep Brooksby off court for 10 to 12 weeks. He plans to use the time to work on other areas of his game and be fully ready once healthy enough to return to tennis.

“I knew it was something that was pretty bad and I’d have to miss some time,” Brooksby said. “I tried to take the conservative route with it but it was to no avail. There was still a lot of pain and it’s the last option, so it’s just what I have to do now.”

The injury has bothered Brooksby for two years, but it has been getting worse since December. When he played Cameron Norrie in Auckland, the American was forced to slice his backhand throughout the second set. Brooksby did not hit backhands again until the day before his first-round match at the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old’s team told him to withdraw from the season’s first Grand Slam, but after missing the 2022 Australian Open following a positive Covid-19 test, Brooksby wanted to compete. He went on to upset second seed Casper Ruud in the second round.

“It’s always tough to go through an injury like that. I felt like I’d had a good offseason otherwise. I was getting more in shape and had a good level, which I showed there,” Brooksby said. “It wasn’t easy, but that’s just the competitor I am. Once I was in the tournament, I just wanted to do the best I could and see after that.”

When Brooksby returned to the United States after losing in the third round, he visited Dr. Shin in Los Angeles. He then went to Florida, where he trained and saw another doctor twice, before she advised surgery was the proper route to follow. Brooksby then returned to California to undergo the operation with Dr. Shin.

“Of course having to do the last option sucks. But I think the only way to look at it is that the glass is half full. I need to focus on the things I can control right now, which is find a good coach and team around me and get certain areas of my body better, footwork, things like that,” said Brooksby, who recently parted ways with longtime coach Joseph Gilbert. “[This is] so that once the wrist is healthy and I’m ready to get back on court, everything else will have made a lot of progress. From there it’s just feeling the wrist in [my] tennis.”

Brooksby explained that rehab and training will take up most of his time. But he is also looking forward to spending more time with family and friends when possible and doing things he otherwise would not have time for, like enjoying the outdoors.

“I’ll just use the opportunity to get away a little bit, reset mentally and improve in areas I can,” Brooksby said. “Once I’m ready to be back I’ll be as ready as I can to go and get back out there and climb up.”

According to the World No. 49, this will also give him an opportunity to make improvements to his game, particularly to his serve. Although it is a difficult moment in his young career, Brooksby is hungry to come out of the situation better than ever and continue pushing towards his ultimate goal of winning a Grand Slam.

“I’m excited. I’m confident I’ll be able to get a lot of areas [in my game] better now,” Brooksby said. “Obviously I’ll be very motivated to get back to where I was and climb even higher. I think my ceiling is really, really high so I’m excited to just be more independent and do my best to reach my goals.”

Carlos Alcaraz controls his own destiny in the battle for No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings over the course of the next two weeks. If the Spaniard wins the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he will return to the top spot on 20 March.

If World No. 2 Alcaraz does anything less than lift the trophy at the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 event, Novak Djokovic will remain World No. 1 on 20 March.

Alcaraz last September became the youngest World No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The 19-year-old maintained the position for 20 weeks and finished as year-end World No. 1.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings

Should Alcaraz get to No. 1 by winning Indian Wells, holding onto top spot won’t be easy. Dropping 1,000 points entering Miami, the Spaniard would need to successfully defend his title at Hard Rock Stadium to remain at No. 1 at the conclusion of the ‘Sunshine Swing’.

World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas is also in contention for World No. 1 in March, defending a combined 135 points in Indian Wells and Miami. The Greek must win one title and reach one final during the swing to give himself a chance of reaching top spot for the first time.

Former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev fell to World No. 12 on 30 January. He has been on a tear ever since, claiming titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai to surge to World No. 6.

Medvedev enters the ‘Sunshine Swing’ with an opportunity to continue his rapid ascent. The 27-year-old is defending just 45 points at Indian Wells. Since Taylor Fritz is defending 1,000 points from last year’s championship run, that puts Medvedev at World No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings before a ball is struck.

The former World No. 1 is 1,785 points behind Casper Ruud. However, with a maximum 2,000 points up for grabs in Indian Wells and Miami, and Ruud defending 600 points from his run to last year’s final, Medvedev has an opportunity to make a move.

Another Top 10 player with a big chance is Holger Rune. Last year, the Danish star entered Indian Wells qualifying without an ATP Masters 1000 main draw win to his name. He qualified and reached the second round before falling in the first round of qualifying in Miami, totaling 41 points for the two events.

Now Rune knows what it takes to lift the trophy at this level having done so at last year’s Rolex Paris Masters. The 19-year-old is No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, 21 points ahead of Andrey Rublev.

Rafael Nadal on 20 March will drop from the Top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since breaking into the elite group on 25 April 2005, when he was 18. The Spaniard will have spent a record 912 consecutive weeks in the Top 10.

Tennis fans who have enjoyed an unprecedented look at life on the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tour through the groundbreaking docu-series Break Point are in for a double treat after Netflix today announced that it had commissioned Series 2 of the show to air in 2024.

Part 1 of Break Point premiered in January, with Part 2 (episodes 6-10) to follow this June. Executive producers Paul Martin and James Gay-Rees from Box to Box Films will continue to helm the show.

Break Point follows a select group of top tennis players on and off the court as they compete in the biggest and most gruelling events in tennis with hopes of emerging as champion and even bigger dreams of becoming World No. 1. As some of the greatest players tennis has ever seen reach the twilight of their careers, there is room for a new generation of players to claim the spotlight.

Break Point gets up close and personal with these top players on tour through an entire year, travelling across the globe for all four Grand Slams and the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tour. From injuries and emotional heartbreak, to triumphant victories and personal moments off the court, viewers get a behind-the-scenes look at the pressure-tested lives of these pro tennis players.

“Break Point showcases the passion, grit, and determination of tennis players at the highest level of competition. The show has provided an incredible window into our sport and we’re delighted to see it return for a second season,” said ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. “Together with ATP Media, WTA and the four Grand Slams, we’re excited to partner with Netflix to build on the show’s success and bring captivating stories to audiences around the world.”

Netflix also announced today that it has commissioned Series 2 of the PGA Tour docu-series Full Swing, which premiered in February.

“These shows quickly appealed to core fans of golf and tennis, and also recruited brand new fans from all around the world,” said Brandon Riegg, Vice President, Unscripted and Documentary Series, Netflix. “Like so much of our growing sports slate, the compelling characters, competitive stakes, and vibrant storytelling reveal sides of the game you’ve never seen before, and we’re excited to follow the unpredictable turns of the year ahead.”

ATP players featured in the first season of Break Point are Felix Auger-Aliassime, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Nick Kyrgios, Casper Ruud, Frances Tiafoe and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

WTA players featured are Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Sloane Stephens, Iga Swiatek and Ajla Tomljanovic.

Break Point provides a behind-the-scenes look at life as a professional tennis player, allowing fans to see members of the players’ support teams, from family members like Berrettini’s grandparents to Kyrgios’ longtime friend and manager Daniel Horsfall. The show includes interviews with members of the tennis community, including Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Paul Annacone and Courtney Nguyen.

All You Need To Know About Break Point

The renewals of Break Point and Full Swing build on Netflix’s overall sports programming success, following previous projects like Cheer; Last Chance U; The Last Dance; Neymar: The Perfect Chaos; and Untold. Current and upcoming titles include:

• Season 5 of Formula 1: Drive to Survive premiered February 24, with this season once again taking fans behind the scenes to witness first-hand how the drivers and teams prepare to battle it out for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship
• Quarterback, Netflix’s first partnership with the NFL through a new docu-series that will take a unique look at each season told through the lens of NFL quarterbacks: 2023 Super Bowl MVP and championship winner Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota
• Untitled docu-series on global football star David Beckham that will go beyond the shine of stardom to explore his humble working class beginnings in East London, and the drive and determination that led him to become one of the most recognisable and scrutinised athletes of all time
• Untitled behind-the-scenes docu-series from the 2022 Tour de France that will chart the ups and downs of 8 of the cycling teams
• Untitled series at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, featuring exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of all 32 teams from the tournament
• Six Nations (working title): an exclusive, inside look at the international rugby tournament

The 2023 ATP Masters 1000 action kicks off this fortnight in Indian Wells, California, where the ATP Tour’s finest compete at the BNP Paribas Open from 8-19 March.

Carlos Alcaraz, who will return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with a title run, is the top seed. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the in-form Daniil Medvedev and defending champion Taylor Fritz are also among the contenders at ‘Tennis Paradise’, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the year.

View Singles Draw

1) Sunshine Double Begins: The BNP Paribas Open is the first of back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 hard-court events known collectively as the ‘Sunshine Double’. Lifting the trophy in both Indian Wells and at the Miami Open presented by Itau is considered one of the toughest feats in tennis — it was last achieved by Roger Federer in 2017.

2) Double Motivation For Alcaraz: The 2022 Sunshine Double was a memorable one for Alcaraz. The then-18-year-old pushed Rafael Nadal to three sets in a blockbuster Indian Wells semi-final before triumphing in Miami, performances which later proved crucial to the Spaniard becoming the youngest No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history last September.

Despite having since dropped to No. 2 below Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz arrives in Indian Wells this year knowing that a title run will secure his return to top spot. The top seed has made an 8-1 start to his 2023 season and will hope to maintain that strong form to claim his third ATP Masters 1000 crown.

3) Stef To Step Up?: Besides Alcaraz, Tsitsipas is the only threat to Djokovic’s No. 1 spot across Indian Wells and Miami. The Greek needs one title and another final from the Sunshine Double events to have a chance of reaching top spot for the first time.

His first priority will be to improve on his modest 5-4 record in Indian Wells, where his best showing was a quarter-final run in 2021. Yet the second-seeded Tsitsipas will be feeling confident after racking up a 13-2 record on hard courts in the first two months of the year.

4) Fritz Defending Champ: Fritz’s title run in Indian Wells was one of the stories of the 2022 season. The American dramatically defeated Nadal in the final despite suffering an ankle injury in the warm-up.

As he returns to defend the title at his hometown tournament, the 25-year-old also has some more recent achievements to draw confidence from — he won the United Cup as part of Team USA in January, lifted his fifth ATP Tour trophy in Delray Beach in February, and arrives in Indian Wells at a career-high No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

5) Red-Hot Medvedev Faces Early Test: The fifth-seeded Medvedev has won his past 14 matches en route to an ATP Tour title hat-trick in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai. Extending that red-hot run in Indian Wells will not be easy, however. The 27-year-old will face a high-quality home favourite — John Isner or Brandon Nakashima — in his opening match at an event where he holds a 6-5 record.

6) Top 10 Stars Seek Success: Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune and Felix Auger-Aliassime all seek their first ATP Tour title for 2023 in southern California.

Of the four, only 2022 semi-finalist Rublev has ever been past the fourth round in Tennis Paradise. The 19-year-old Rune competes in his first ATP Masters 1000 event since becoming a champion at that level for the first time at last November’s Rolex Paris Masters.

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7) #NextGenATP Shelton Makes Debut: Alongside Alcaraz and Rune, another young talent in the Indian Wells draw is starting to establish himself among the world’s best — #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton. The 20-year-old lefty, who reached the quarter-finals in his maiden Australian Open campaign in January, will take on the experienced Fabio Fognini on his Indian Wells debut. His reward for victory would be a mouth-watering all-American clash with defending champion Fritz.

8) Can Americans Maintain Momentum?: Fritz and Shelton are two of 14 home favourites in the Indian Wells draw (not including qualifiers). With 10 players from the United States currently in the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the emergence of such a strong group of Americans has been one of the talking points of the year so far.

Among those hoping to emulate Fritz and become a home champion in California are four seeded players — Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda and Maxime Cressy.

9) Wu Aims To Back Up History: Both competing as wild cards, Wu Yibing and Dominic Thiem possess contrasting levels of experience in Indian Wells. Wu, who became the first Chinese ATP Tour titlist in history in February in Dallas, faces Jaume Munar on his event debut. Meanwhile, Thiem is preparing for his seventh appearance at an event where he defeated Federer to lift the trophy in 2019. The Austrian is one of just three former champions in the draw, alongside Fritz and 10th seed Cameron Norrie.

10) Isner/Sock Chase Third Doubles Crown: Home favourites John Isner and Jack Sock team up in pursuit of their third Indian Wells crown, but the 2018 and 2022 champions face stiff competition in California. That includes top seeds Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski, second seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury, and Australian Open winners Rinky Hijikata/Jason Kubler.

A host of singles stars will also team up on the doubles court. Ruud partners Thiem, Fritz plays with his countryman Paul, Tiafoe teams with Stan Wawrinka, and Rune competes alongside his fellow #NextGenATP star Shelton.

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev comes into the BNP Paribas Open as the hottest player on the ATP Tour and the fifth seed will need to be on his game early at the year’s first ATP Masters 1000 event to extend his 14-match winning streak.

Drawn in the same half as second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, third seed Casper Ruud and sixth seed Andrey Rublev, Medvedev faces a testing opening match against the winner of 2012 Indian Wells finalist John Isner, whose fearsome serve gets extra bite in the dry desert conditions, and Next Gen ATP Finals champion Brandon Nakashima.

Medvedev, who beat Rublev in last Saturday’s Dubai final to cap a hat-trick of titles that also included Rotterdam and Doha, is seeded to meet Alexander Zverev in the fourth round. The German last week returned to form with a semi-final run in Dubai.

Top seed and 2022 semi-finalist Carlos Alcaraz, who will return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings should he win his third Masters 1000 title this fortnight, leads the top half of the draw and in his opening match will face the winner of American wild card Brandon Holt and a qualifier. The Spaniard missed last week’s ATP 500 event in Acapulco with a right leg injury.

Great Britain fans will not have been happy with the draw, as 24th seed Daniel Evans could face emerging 21-year-old lefty Jack Draper in the second round, with the winner possibly playing Andy Murray, if the Scot can defeat Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round and 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round.

Eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is looking for a spark after a modest 8-5 start to the year, is seeded to meet Poland’s ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round.

Defending champion Taylor Fritz, who is at a career-high No. 5, will open against the winner of fast-rising 19-year-old American Ben Shelton and wily Italian veteran Fabio Fognini. But with 1000 points to defend, the 25-year-old enters the tournament at No. 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and needs a deep run to remain within reach of the Top 5.

Seeded 11th, Jannik Sinner could meet fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the third round and seventh seed Holger Rune in the fourth round.

Second seed Tsitsipas, who has a chance to climb to World No. 1 after the Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, will open against either French veteran Gael Monfils or Australian Jordan Thompson. The Greek needs to win one title and reach one final during the swing to put himself in contention for top spot. Tsitsipas is defending just 135 points in March, having reached the Indian Wells third round and the Miami fourth round in 2022.

Tsitsipas is seeded to meet Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round, with Rublev, 2021 champion Cameron Norrie and Matteo Berrettini all potential opponents in the quarter-finals, should he make it that far.

World No. 4 Ruud, who last year reached the final of the Miami Open, will play the winner of the all-Argentine first-round battle between Diego Schwartzman and Federico Coria. Schwartzman is looking to turn around his season, having won just one of his seven matches this year as he has slipped to World No. 38.