We’re getting to it at Indian Wells. This year’s BNP Paribas Open had a lot of chaos in the foreground — Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud were all upset in their first matches. The next few days will get increasingly tense, with singles quarterfinals beginning on Thursday.
How to watch the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells
- Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden — Indian Wells, Calif.
- Dates: March 13-16
- TV: Tennis Channel
- Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
Men’s and women’s singles rest-of-tournament schedule
Thursday, March 13 (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
- Women’s quarterfinals
- Men’s quarterfinals
Friday, March 14 (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
Saturday, March 15 (1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.)
Sunday, March 16 (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
- Women’s finals
- Men’s finals
The spotlight rightfully hovers over Spanish phenom and second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz (No. 3 in the world), who is in pursuit of an Indian Wells three-peat. He has defeated Daniil Medvedev in consecutive finals here. Five American men reached the Round of 16: Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Brandon Nakashima, Marcos Giron and Tommy Paul. Only Shelton made it to the quarters and he beat Nakashima to get there.
In women’s singles, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka seeks her first solo title in the Coachella Valley. The Belarusian advanced to the final in 2023 but fell short to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, 7-6, 6-4. She won the doubles championship in 2019 with Belgian partner Elise Mertens. Defending singles champion and two-time winner Iga Swiatek breezed into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Czechia’s Karolina Muchova.
Madison Keys will try to become the first women’s singles champion from the home country since Serena Williams in 2001. Coco Gauff had a chance at it before losing to Belinda Bencic in three sets. Both Williams sisters boycotted the event for more than a decade after Venus pulled out with a late injury, and crowd taunts devolved into overt racism in that ’01 final.
The Athletic’s Matthew Futterman on the court conditions:
“In the past, the Indian Wells playing surface was fashioned by Plexipave. This year, Laykold came on board. In both cases, the courts have three layers: Asphalt or concrete on the bottom, a softer acrylic or silicone surface on top of that, and then surface paint that contains varying amounts of sand. Tommy Haas, the former player who is tournament director at Indian Wells, said organizers listened to the complaints from the players last year and decided it was time at least try to speed up the courts.
‘The outside courts seem to be a little bit quicker than Stadium One and Stadium Two,’ Haas said in an interview Tuesday. ‘Stadium One seems to be the slowest. So we’re trying to adjust, looking at numbers and trying to figure out how to keep all the courts as even as possible. That’s what we want for the players.’”
On the mercurial weather:
“For a tournament that bills itself as a tennis paradise, Indian Wells has a tendency to bring some Old Testament elements to the sport in the California desert. The sun that blazes down in the day is replaced with temperatures that can turn frigid at night. In a part of the world that sees rain around 14 days out of 365, a few always seem to land in the first fortnight of March, interrupting play. Last year, bees swarmed the main stadium. This year, the sworn enemy of tennis players at all levels — that rarely stops play, but defines its rhythm more than any other weather condition — is puppeting the small yellow ball they try to hit inside the white lines and driving them to distraction.”
Charlie Eccleshare on Yosuke Watanuki:
“On Sunday night, Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki offered the kind of sportsmanship against Frances Tiafoe that many fans have said they would like to see. Tiafoe was serving at deuce, down 2-3, when he was given a time violation for taking too long before serving. Watanuki walked towards umpire Mohamed Lahyani and told him that he hadn’t been ready to receive.
…Watanuki went on to win an action-packed match 6-4, 7-6(6) despite Tiafoe twice serving for the second set. One of those breaks for Watanuki came immediately after he had asked for a Pepsi when struggling for energy down 5-4. The win means that Watanuki, ranked No. 349 after missing most of last year with injury, is the lowest-ranked player in the Indian Wells last 16 since 2004.”
All-time tournament records
- Roger Federer and Djokovic are tied with five titles at Indian Wells. Both players won three consecutive titles. Federer reached the finals a record nine times.
- Ten players are tied for most women’s singles titles with two. That list includes incumbent champion Swiatek, Serena Williams before the boycott, Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport, who made the most finals appearances with six.
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(Photo of Carlos Alcaraz: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
