Article previews the 2011 ATP Indian Wells event with a focus on ranking implications near the top of the ATP Tour. The dates for Indian Wells are March 10th to March 20th with qualifying underway already.
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal are the top players on tour at the moment as the 2011 edition of ATP Indian Wells nears.
Novak Djokovic, winner of the Australian Open and champion at ATP Dubai, is the player with the most momentum entering Indian Wells as his recent hard court credentials are unsurpassed.
But Rafael Nadal, the top ranked player in the world, cannot be caught in the ATP rankings by anyone, not Djokovic nor Roger Federer, regardless of the results at Indian Wells this year.
Even if Nadal were to skip the tournament and either Federer or Djokovic won the event outright, Nadal would remain on top of the ATP Tour as his multiple clay court Masters titles, his three active Grand Slam titles, and his other results in the past year would be more than enough to keep him buoyed above everyone else following Indian Wells.
However there are scenarios, realistic ones in my opinion, where Federer would lose the second ranking on tour.
Novak Djokovic would become the world number 2, again, if he won the tournament outright no matter how well or how poorly Federer did.
Djokovic could achieve the number 2 ranking even with a loss should he make the final and should Federer lose in the semifinals or earlier.
There are other scenarios where Djokovic can ascend over top of Federer in the ATP rankings with the results from Indian Wells directly however the Serbian would have to make the semifinals and Federer would have to falter before then.
