By Chris Oddo | Monday, March 23, 2015

 

Novak Djokovic will begin his bid for a third career Indian Wells-Miami double with Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in the other half of the draw.

Photo Source: Christopher Levy (@Tennis_Shots)

With Roger Federer skipping to Europe for a ski vacation this week, four-time Miami Open champion Novak Djokovic won’t have to face Rafael Nadal until the final. Even better for Djokovic, both Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray were drawn into the bottom half along with Nadal, giving the world No. 1 some smoother sailing as he begins his quest to become the first player in history to win three Indian Wells-Miami doubles.

Click here for the complete Miami Open men’s singles draw

After a bye, Djokovic could face either Paolo Lorenzi or Martin Klizan in the second round, Gilles Muller in the third round and Tommy Robredo in the round of 16.

Should the seeds hold, Djokovic would face David Ferrer in the quarterfinals. The Serb has won seven straight against the Spaniard.

4th-seeded Kei Nishikori and 5th-seeded Milos Raonic are in the bottom quarter of Djokovic’s half, along with 11th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov and 12th-seeded Gilles Simon.

Juan Martin del Potro, who will face Canada's Vasek Pospisil in his long-awaited return from corrective wrist surgery, could face Dimitrov in the second round.

2nd-seeded and four-time finalist Nadal will face either Nicolas Almagro or Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round and could face Fernando Verdasco in the third round if the seeds hold. In the round of 16, Nadal’s opponent could be 13th-seeded Ernests Gulbis or 23rd-seeded Guillermo Garcia Lopez.

In the quarterfinals, Nadal would face the winner of a difficult section that features Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Bernard Tomic.

In the top quarter of Nadal’s half, Stan Wawrinka and two-time champion Andy Murray are slated to meet in the quarterfinals.

After a bye, Wawrinka will face either Carlos Berlocq or rising Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. Murray will open with either Donald Young or Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round.