Novak Djokovic, whose 24 Grand Slam singles championships are the most of any men’s player in tennis history, leads a star-studded contingent of men and women who began play Wednesday, March 6, in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
The tournament, scheduled to conclude at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs with men’s and women’s singles finals March 17, also features defending champions Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Russian-born Elena Rybakina, who plays under the flag of Kazakhstan.
Italian Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who are coming off winning the men’s and women’s championships at the Australian Open in January, are among other top entrants who will be competing for an Indian Wells tournament-record $19 million in prize money.
Among the more prestigious tournaments in the world after the four majors—the Australian, French, and U.S. Opens, and Wimbledon—Indian Wells features a 16,100-seat center court and 29 hard courts. It is one of nine World Tour Masters 1,000 high-level men’s events operated by the Association of Tennis Professionals, and one of the Women’s Tennis Association’s four Premier Mandatory tournaments.
In addition to Djokovic, a five-time winner, and Alcaraz, others in the men’s field who have captured past Indian Wells championships include three-time champion Rafael Nadal of Spain, Southern California product Taylor Fritz, who won in 2022, and 2021 winner Cameron Norrie of South Africa. Rybakina is among six former winners on the women’s side, a group that includes Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the 2012 and 2016 champion, as well as Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki (2011), Naomi Osaka of Japan (2018), Spain’s Paula Badosa (2021), and Iga Swiatek of Poland (2022).
Djokovic, the Serbian wonder who continues to defy time at age 36, remains the world’s top-ranked player despite having fallen to Sinner in this year’s Australian Open semifinals. Djokovic had been bidding to surpass the overall record of 24 major championships originally set by Australian legend Margaret Court.
A winner of 98 singles championships in his illustrious career, Djokovic is the only men’s player to have captured all four Grand Slam events at least three times each, including the French and U.S. Opens last year. The Indian Wells champion in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016, he set a tournament record by winning 20 consecutive matches from 2014–2017.
Nadal, who along with Djokovic and the retired Roger Federer formed the men’s big three for two decades, missed most of last year, including Indian Wells, because of a hip injury that required surgery. He then sat out this year’s Australian Open after suffering a muscle injury in a preliminary tournament in Brisbane.
Nadal, 37, and Alcaraz squared off March 5 in an exhibition match in Las Vegas, with Alcaraz prevailing in a 14–12 tiebreaker after they split sets.
Nadal told reporters afterward that he “felt much better than expected.” Indian Wells figures to be a key test for the 14-time French Open champion who owns 22 career Grand Slam titles. Nadal won at Indian Wells in 2007, 2009, and 2013, and was runner-up to Fritz in 2022.
Sinner, 22, is ranked third in the world after the biggest victory of his career at the Australian Open. The first Italian to reach an Australian Open final, he got there by upsetting Djokovic in the semifinals, and then topped Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the final.
Alcaraz, 20, beat Sinner in the semifinals and Medvedev in the final on the way to last year’s Indian Wells championship. The world’s second-ranked player, Alcaraz became the youngest man ever to win at Indian Wells after his 2022 U.S. Open championship made him the youngest Grand Slam men’s winner since Nadal at the 2005 French Open. Alcaraz followed that up by beating Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final.
Medvedev, who won the U.S. Open in 2021, is the world’s fourth-ranked player, while Fritz comes in at No. 12. Fritz, 26, two years ago became the first American men’s champion at Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 2001.
A native of Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego, Fritz’s career-best Grand Slam performances were quarterfinal berths at Wimbledon in 2022, the 2023 U.S. Open, and this year’s Australian Open. Other notables in the men’s field include Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Great Britain’s Andy Murray, and Americans Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Christopher Eubanks, and Marcos Giron.
Swiatek, 22, is the world’s top-ranked women’s player and a four-time Grand Slam champion, including each of the past two French Opens. She won last year’s WTA Finals singles title without dropping a set, becoming the first to do so since Serena Williams in 2012.
Sabalenka, 25, pulled off a similar feat while winning her second consecutive Australian Open title, capturing every set along the way. The world’s second-ranked player, Sabalenka was the runner-up at Indian Wells and at the U.S. Open last year.
Coco Gauff, a 19-year-old from Delray Beach, Florida who won her first Grand Slam title at last year’s U.S. Open, is ranked No. 3 in the world and is hoping to improve on last year’s quarterfinal run at Indian Wells.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion and an Australian Open finalist this year, captured the Indian Wells title last year by beating Swiatek and Sabalenka in the semifinals and final, respectively. Rybakina, 24, is the world’s No. 4-ranked player.
The next best American women’s hope at Indian Wells is No. 5 Jessica Pegula of Buffalo. Pegula, 30, advanced to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells in 2021.
Sixth-ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia reached the Indian Wells semifinals in 2021. Jabeur, 29, is a three-time Grand Slam finalist, at the 2022 U.S. Open and at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023.
Other notable players in the women’s field include Czechia’s Marketa Vondrousova, who defeated Jabeur in last year’s Wimbledon final, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, and American Danielle Collins. Like Wozniacki, who returned to tennis after a three-year break, seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams received a wild-card entry to Indian Wells. Williams, 43, will be making her ninth appearance at the tournament and first since 2019.
