By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday March 2, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz and four others aim to get their games on track at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Photo Source: Getty
The Sunshine double can provide a fresh start – and a new beginning – for players who have struggled to get their bearings in the first two months of the season.
In 2024, several players are badly in need of a reset. Here are five players that can turn around their seasons in March:
Jessica Pegula
It’s been a chaotic two months for the Buffalo native. She struggled out of the gate, handing a walkover to Daria Kasatkina in the semifinals at Adelaide, then lost in the second round at the Australian Open to France’s Clara Burel, the World No.51. After that Pegula pulled out of the Middle East swing due to a neck injury and by the time she took the court in San Diego this week she had parted ways with longtime coach David Witt.
And she just turned 30…
Pegula needs to use the next month to reassert herself as an elite talent, and one of the most consistent on tour.
Rafael Nadal
Nadal looked so good in his first two matches at Brisbane in early January. The Spaniard played his first competitive matches in nearly a year and won them both in straight sets. But he ran into worry again a few days later when he fell to Jordan Thompson and suffered an injury in the process (micro tear to muscle near hip area).
the injury turned out to be nothing serious and Nadal is back at Indian Wells, hoping to stay healthy long enough to build some momentum ahead of the clay season. A few wins – and good health – will be vital for Rafa this month.
Ons Jabeur
It’s been rough sledding since last Wimbledon for the three-time Grand Slam finalist. Jabeur has lost five of her last seven – all of them in straight sets – and was boxed out of the Australian Open by Mirra Andreeva, 6-0, 6-2. A knee issue has compounded the Tunisian’s worries. Jabeur had to pull out of Dubai due to an injury that she called “unbearable.”
Jabeur said she’ll play the Sunshine double “if the knee holds up” but maybe it would be best for her to shut it down until she is at 100 percent. If she is healthy, it's time she rediscovered her winning ways...
Frances Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe has lost four matches to players ranked outside of the Top 50 already this season, which also happens to be his first without longtime coach Wayne Ferriera at the helm. The American has been good at times in 2024, but overall a tad too inconsistent, and the pressure will be on him to show that he can rise to the occasion in the US next week, where he is defending semifinal points at Indian Wells.
After three extremely productive years with Ferreira, Moyano and Tiafoe have a high standard to live up to. Success this month could ease the pressure for Frances and his new full-time coach.
Carlos Alcaraz
Still titleless since his stunning run to the Wimbledon title last summer, Carlos Alcaraz is a player very much in search of traction in 2024. He was thumped by Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and went just 2-2 in South America, falling to Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires before turning his ankle and retiring to Thiago Monteiro in his first match at Rio – after just two games.
It’s definitely not time to push the panic button for Carlitos, but at some point he’s going to have to change the narrative – why not at Indian Wells and Miami, places he has already proven himself at? Alcaraz went 10-1 last year across the Sunshine Double, winning the title at Indian Wells and losing in the semis to Jannik Sinner at Miami.