Former world No 2 Tommy Haas believes the expectations placed on Novak Djokovic are “really outrageous” as it is regarded as a failure if he does not win every tournament.
The German asserted that you can never count Djokovic out and backed both the Serbian and Aryna Sabalenka to win the singles titles in Indian Wells — where he is the tournament director.
Novak Djokovic is set to make his first appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells since 2019 at this year’s edition, which will be played from March 6-17.
The world No 1 shares the record for the most Indian Wells titles with his great rival Roger Federer, having won the last of his five crowns in the Californian desert in 2016.
The 36-year-old has not played since losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the 2024 Australian Open in January, a loss that ended his 33-match winning streak at the event. The 24-time major winner claimed three of the four Grand Slam titles in a stunning 2023 season.
In an interview with Eurosport, Haas named Djokovic as the ATP player to beat in Indian Wells as he discussed the sky-high standards the Serbian has set.
“Djokovic has had such success there, he’s coming back. I feel like every time he doesn’t win a tournament, we all look at it as a failure, right? And I hate to use that word anyway,” Haas said.
“But even the semis at the Australian Open, we all look at it like, ‘Oh, he lost in the semis, he didn’t win the Australian Open.’ But you know how many people of players would love to get to a semi-final one time.
“It’s really outrageous, so you can never count him out. He’s obviously always gonna be a favourite and he’s always gonna look at himself as like, the favourite to win the title.”
The 15-time ATP title winner then picked two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka as his favourite to claim the women’s title in Indian Wells.
“On the women’s side, Sabalenka, you know, she has such a big, powerful game. Gives her a little bit more time sometimes in Indian Wells too,” Haas added.
“But she moves well, she’s feeling obviously very, very good about her game — defending her title at the Australian Open. So I kind of give her the edge also going in, no matter what happens the next couple of weeks.”
World No 2 Sabalenka was a runner-up in Indian Wells last year, when she was beaten by Elena Rybakina in the final.
