Novak Djokovic is preparing to play his first match at Indian Wells in five years, but he will have to wait until Saturday to take to the court at ‘Tennis Paradise’.

The world No 1 was in a jovial mood as he faced the media for the first time since arriving in America two weeks ago, with the five-time champion discovering who he will face in his opening match.

Djokovic will take on Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic in his second round match in what will be his first meeting with the world No 69.

This appears to be a comfortable opening match for Djokovic as Vukic has started 2024 in miserable fashion, with his win against youngster Shintaro Mochizuki in Indian Wells only his second win of this year and only his second ever win at Indian Wells.

The order of play has been released for Friday and the big names in the men’s draw taking centre stage will be Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Those two young guns have beaten Djokovic in Grand Slam events over the last year and this will be a big week for Sinner, who has a chance to knock Alcaraz off the world No 2 spot.

The Italian is playing in his first ATP 1000 tournament since winning the Australian Open in January and he insists the battle to be No 2 in the ATP rankings is not his big focus.

“Number 2? I always say that the ranking is a secondary thing,” said Sinner, who won his first tournament after the Australian Open in Rotterdam last month.

“First, to get there I have to have a very continuous season, which does not mean winning every tournament, but being ready to compete.”

“In Rotterdam, we knew there was a chance to become number 3. Here, it’s the same thing to become number 2, but it doesn’t just depend on me . There are other factors, other players and there is Nole who comes back here after a long time.”

“After Rotterdam, we got straight to work… that’s the key that led me to this success, but I know I have to improve. Even now we’ve done a good job and I hope I can show it on the court.”

Sinner also suggested his goals have shifted since he won his first Grand Slam, as the calm 22-year-old appears to be ready to push for more glory in what is already a breakthrough year.

“I think tennis is a good sport because you can always set new goals. It doesn’t really matter what kind of title you win,” added Sinner. “The next week is a good week and a good opportunity to do again something great.

“In my mind, I know that there are some important points for me to have a better ranking. This kind of motivation just keeps pushing me and of course, even more importantly, it’s to become a better tennis player throughout every week. 

“So we will work. It doesn’t matter what the result is in the tournaments, we will keep working and hopefully I can get to 100% in every single department.

“You have to wake up in the morning and work again. And if you lose, you live this negative moment, but you don’t live your career with this.”

Sinner will play Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening match on the main show court in Indian Wells on Friday.

Alcaraz is set to play in the first match of the night session against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, while Britain’s Andy Murray will play Andrey Rublev in the second match on the Stadium 2 Court at Indian Wells.