Patrick Mouratoglou snubs five-time champion Novak Djokovic when listing title contenders at Indian Wells

With so many talented players present at this year's Indian Wells event, there is a lot of speculation on who leaves with the title. Renown French coach Patrick Mouratoglou revealed his favorites to lift the prestigious trophy, but chose to omit five-time champion Novak Djokovic.

World No.1 Jannik Sinner is currently serving a three-month ban from tennis after a lengthy legal battle following a positive test for clostebol, a prohibited substance. With the Australian Open champion out of the picture, the path might be clearer for those who could have potentially faced the in-form Italian.

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Mouratoglou selects title favorites, doesn't mention Djokovic

In a video posted to his official Instagram account, Mouratoglou gave his opinion on whom could possibly capture the distinguished title in the absence of Sinner. The French coach mentioned obvious choices like Carlos Alcaraz and even picked a few dark horses. However, he oddly left out former World No.1 Novak Djokovic, who has won the Indian Wells title on five separate occasions.

"With Sinner out of the tournament, there are a lot of players who have a good chance of winning it this year," said Mouratoglou. "The first two are pretty easy. Alcaraz, who won last year, world number three, is coming back into form. Zverev, number two, is getting stronger and stronger. We think he can win any Masters 1000.
"The third one is not so easy. I would say Taylor Fritz. His ranking, the fact that he has won the tournament before and the fact that he is playing in the United States. For American players, we know that they are very dangerous on their own court. So I would say that this BNP Paribas Open is very open.

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"I have two outsiders that come to mind. The first one is Shelton, I think he can play incredible tennis. I think the conditions are good for him too. The ball bounces very high in Indian Wells, and with his serve, I think he is going to be very annoying for the guys. The second is Tomas Machac, who just won the UTS (and especially the ATP 500 in Acapulco, editor's note). I mean, this guy has played incredibly well in the last few months. He can do something big."

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