Third round singles action begins on Sunday in Indian Wells.
Daniil Medvedev has reached the final of Indian Wells in both of the past two years, yet lost both of those finals to Carlos Alcaraz. In the third round of the 2025 event, he faces a dangerous draw in 20-year-old Alex Michelsen. Other ATP competition on Sunday features three additional matchups between seeded players: Holger Rune vs. Ugo Humbert, Arthur Fils vs. Lorenzo Musetti, and Matteo Berrettini vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas.
On the WTA side, we have a rematch from the WTA 1000 final just two weeks ago in Dubai, between Mirra Andreeva and Clara Tauson. Plus, in what should be a compelling clash of styles, Danielle Collins takes on Elina Svitolina. And Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina will both play their third round matches.
This preview will analyze the two most prominent matches of the day, while taking note of the other singles quarterfinals. Sunday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Alex Michelsen (31) vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – Third on Stadium 1
Medvedev usually arrives in Indian Wells already owning a lot of hard court wins on the season, as well as a title or two. But that is not the case this year, as he’s a rather meek 9-5. And even more surprisingly, Daniil hasn’t reached a final since this tournament a year ago. By Medvedev’s high standard, he’s in quite a slump.
Michelsen actually possesses more match wins this year than Medvedev, thanks to a fourth round run at the Australian Open, where he earned a pair of top 20 victories (Tsitsipas, Khachanov). The 20-year-old doesn’t have a noteworthy weakness in his game, with his backhand being his biggest strength. This is the first time the California native has advanced beyond the second round at a Masters event, as he looks to break new ground at his home state’s biggest tournament.
In their first career meeting, I would not be at all surprised if Michelsen upsets the two-time Indian Wells runner-up. Alex will certainly have the crowd behind him, and Daniil is currently far from the most confident version of himself.
Clara Tauson (22) vs. Mirra Andreeva (9) – Not Before 6:00pm on Stadium 1
In the Dubai final, Andreeva defeated Tauson in straight sets to become the youngest-ever WTA 1000 champion. It was only the second WTA title in the 17-year-old’s career, and that victory also propelled Mirra into the top 10 for the first time. Andreeva is now 14-3 this season, and won her opening round match here in straights.
It’s also been a great start to the year for Tauson, who is 16-4 after also winning her opening round in straights. Before reaching the final of Dubai, she won a title at the beginning of January in Auckland, where she notably took out Madison Keys just a few weeks before Keys won the Australian Open. The 22-year-old from Denmark is on the brink of making her top 20 debut.
The aforementioned Dubai final is their only prior meeting. Clara will be eager to avenge that disappointing loss on Sunday, but I give the slight edge to Mirra, as her weapons are just a bit more formidable.
Other Notable Matches on Sunday:
Dayana Yastremska vs. Iga Swiatek (2) – Swiatek allowed Caroline Garcia just two games on Friday, while Yastremska upset Ons Jabeur with the loss of only four games. Just a few weeks ago in Dubai, Iga defeated Dayana in straights.
Matteo Berrettini (28) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) – Tsitsipas is fresh off a title run in Dubai, where he beat Berrettini 6-4 in the third. Overall he is 5-1 against Matteo, and 4-0 on hard courts.
Elena Rybakina (7) vs. Katie Boulter (30) – When these players met in the third round of Wimbledon two years ago, Rybakina easily prevailed 6-1, 6-1.
Danielle Collins (14) vs. Elena Svitolina (23) – Both women outlasted American opponents in extremely tight second round contests. Collins is 2-0 against Svitolina, via decisive set scores of 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, and 6-2.
Holger Rune (12) vs. Ugo Humbert (18) – Rune leads their head-to-head 3-0, and has taken all seven sets they’ve played. However, Humbert is arguably the more in-form player, having won a title in Marseille just a few weeks ago.
Arthur Fils (20) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (15) – Last April in Monte Carlo on clay, Musetti overcame Fils in straight sets, their only meeting to date.
Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.
