The China Mail - Djokovic battles back to win Indian Wells opener

The 38-year-old Serb superstar was back on court for the first time since he fell in the Australian Open final to Carlos Alcaraz, who opened his campaign later Saturday against former world number three Grigor Dimitrov.

Djokovic had to grind for two hours and 12 minutes on a windy Stadium Court, Poland's Majchrzak grabbing two quick breaks in the opening set before Djokovic began to find his rhythm from the baseline and assert his superiority.

"Kamil is a very solid player," Djokovic said. "He doesn't have tremendous power, but he has every shot in the book and he was not afraid to come in and take the ball early.

"He played a tremendous first set. I kind of reset and started feeling the ball better," Djokovic added after a match marked by extended, entertaining rallies that included a 40-shot exchange in the opening game of the third.

Majchrzak held in that game, but Djokovic broke him twice on the way to a 5-2 lead and was finally looking more relaxed when he closed it out with a backhand volley winner.

It was an especially satisfying win for Djokovic given his recent struggles in the California desert.

He shares the record for Indian Wells titles with Swiss great Roger Federer, but hasn't made it to the quarter-finals since he last won in 2016.

Last year he lost to Dutch lucky loser Botic van de Zandshculp in his second-round opener while a year before he fell to Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi in the third round.

"It's kind of hard to find my A-game, particularly at the beginning of the tournament," he said. "So just glad to overcome a challenge."

Alcaraz is aiming to grab a third Indian Wells title and extend his 12-0 winning streak to start the year.

The 22-year-old Spaniard made history in Melbourne last month with his victory at the Australian Open, becoming the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam.

He followed up with the Qatar Open to arrive in California on the back of 12 straight wins.

- Draper rallies -

Britain's Jack Draper launched his title defense with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

Draper halted Alcaraz's bid for a rare Indian Wells three-peat in the semi-finals last year before beating Holger Rune in the final.

That victory launched his rise to fourth in the world, but he returned to California in rebuilding mode again after an arm injury forced him to cut short his 2025 season.

"To come out and play the level I'm playing after the injury I had, I am really proud of that," said Draper, who made his return to the tour in Dubai last week having not played since his second-round withdrawal at the US Open.

"It was difficult," the oft-injured Draper, now ranked 14th, said of his latest comeback bid. "Even though from the moment I got here last week, I have felt the love and special feelings being back here, but at the same time I haven't played in a long time and have had a difficult injury, so mixed emotions.

"But I am really glad with the way I came through in the second and third sets against a formidable opponent in Roberto."

J.Thompson--ThChM