The world’s best players have gathered in California for one of the biggest tennis events to take place outside of the Grand Slams.
The BNP Paribas Open, referred to by some as ‘tennis paradise,’ is a Masters 1000 event for men and a WTA 1000 for women. Held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, its premier stadium has a capacity of over 16,000, making it one of the largest tennis stadiums in the world. The tournament is owned by Larry Ellison, who Forbes claims has an estimated net worth of more than $192bn.
Over the next couple of weeks, there will be plenty of tennis to follow and here are the main storylines to keep an eye on.
The men’s tournament
Djokovic targets history
Novak Djokovic has a shot at breaking another record when he plays in his 17th Indian Wells main draw. The Serbian could become the most decorated player in tournament history should he win his seventh trophy this year. Currently, he holds the record for most Indian Wells titles (six) with Roger Federer.
However, it won’t be easy for the Serbian, who hasn’t triumphed in the desert since 2016. Last year, he was beaten in the second round, and a year earlier, he lost in the third round. Overall, he has a win-loss record of 51-11 at the Masters 1000 event.
Djokovic’s projected Indian Wells draw:-
R1 – BYE
R2 – Mpetshi Perricard/Majchrzak
R3 – Moutet/Hurkacz
R4 – Draper/Cerundolo
QF – Fritz/Medvedev/Lehecka/Humbert
SF – Alcaraz/De Minaur/Ruud/Bublik
F – Sinner/Zverev/Shelton/Musetti
Draper looks to defend title
British No.1 Jack Draper faces a tall order to defend his title after recently returning to the Tour following an injury-related hiatus. Draper has played just three matches since Wimbledon due to missing almost six months of action because of a severely bruised bone in his service arm.
The first ATP event he played in his comeback was at the Dubai Tennis Championships over a week ago, where he won his opening match against Quentin Halys before losing to Arthur Rinderknech.
“I’ve worked a hell of a lot on my transition game, my volleys,” Draper told The Athletic when asked what areas of his game he has recently been working on. “And I’ve actually hit more serves than I’ve ever hit because I’m hitting them 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent and so on. The accuracy and changing my stance on the serve to help my arm … It takes time but you get more repetition because you’re practising it more.”
Should Draper defy the odds and defend his title in the desert, he will join Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt to have won back-to-back Indian Wells titles since 2000.
Sinner aiming for a Master’s sweep
Jannik Sinner has enjoyed a solid but not spectacular start to 2026 with a run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic. Then, at the Doha Open in Qatar, he suffered a quarter-final loss to Jakub Mensik.
“As for the season so far, the assessment remains positive: It’s been good. The semifinals in Australia and Doha went the way they did, but I’m very happy with where I am mentally. We’re trying to maximize our potential,” Sinner told reporters on Tuesday.
The Italian world No.2 has won every Masters 1000 event played on a hard court, except Indian Wells. He is a two-time semi-finalist in California, but his points and prize money earned in 2024 were removed following a failed anti-doping test, which was linked to contamination. Sinner then served a 90-day suspension from the Tour last year due to the violation, which meant he missed Indian Wells 12 months ago.
The suspension was due to the view that he had a degree of responsibility in ensuring his team followed the right protocols. It was never concluded by investigators that he intended to consume a banned substance.
Sinner’s potential Indian Wells path to glory (based on seedings):-
1R – Bye
2R – Duckworth/Qualy
3R – Shapovalov/Tsitsipas/Etcheverry
4R – Paul/Khachanov/Fonseca
CF – Shelton/Mensik/Tien/Davidovich
SF – Zverev/Auger Aliassime/Musetti
Final – Alcaraz/Djokovic
Alcaraz’s winning run
Currently on a 12-match winning streak, Carlos Alcaraz is hoping to continue his unbeaten start to the season in Indian Wells. A tournament he won twice in 2023 and 2024, as well as reaching the semi-finals in 2022 and 2025. He has won more matches at the tournament (20-3) than at any other Masters event in his career.
“I think on the court I just control my emotions even better,” Alcaraz said of the key to his recent success on the Tour.
“I would say that was the key of, you know, the good level of tennis that I have been playing lately…I just control myself, and in a calm place I can find the solutions and I can go through.
“When I was getting mad or when I was playing bad or whatever, I just found the right way again, because I was calm.”
Should Alcaraz win Indian Wells again, he would become the fourth male player to achieve a title hat-trick at the tournament since 1990. Following in the footsteps of Michael Chang, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The women’s Tournament
Sabalenka seeks first title
Aryna Sabalenka returns to action for the first time since losing in the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina. 19 out of her 22 WTA titles have been won on a hardcourt but she is yet to triumph in Indian Wells. Twice she has finished runner-up, including last year.
Since making her debut in 2018, Sabalenka has a win-loss record of 15-6 at Indian Wells. Her latest appearance will be the first event she plays since announcing her engagement to long-time boyfriend Georgios Frangulis, who is the CEO of global health-food brand OakBerry.
“All good guys, everything happened, but look how I look,” Sabalenka said in a story earlier this week.
The 25-year wait for a female American champion
Success among American players in the women’s draw has been limited in recent years. Serena Williams was the last player to win the title in 2001 and the last to play a final in 2016. Nevertheless, the expectations are high. This year’s top 20 seedings feature six Americans, of which three are in the top six – Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova.
“It’s always been really tough for me here,” Pegula admitted on Tuesday.
“I never feel like I play good tennis. I think I had one good year when I made quarters but it’s always been tough.
“I think it’s one of the tougher tournaments to win because of how drastic the conditions can change from morning to night.
“I’m kind of looking forward to the challenge of seeing if I can get over that hump a little bit here and see how far I can go. Obviously, it’s going to be tough.”
As for the records of her compatriots, Gauff is a former semi-finalist, Anisimova hasn’t reached the fourth round since 2018 and Madison Keys was a semi-finalist last year.
All eyes on Andreeva
Mirra Andreeva produced a stunning run at the tournament 12 months ago by beating Iga Swiatek, Rybakina and Sabalenka en route to the title. However, since then, she has only recorded one more win over a top 10 player on the Tour, which was at Wimbledon last July.
The 18-year-old rising star won her fourth career title in January at the Adelaide International and currently has a win-loss record of 12-4 (excluding walkovers). In Indian Wells, she will be seeded eighth in the draw and is projected to play Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
Only one woman has managed to win back-to-back trophies at Indian Wells, which was Martina Navratilova in 1990 and 1991.
Swiatek targets a hat-trick
Finally, can Swiatek do something no other WTA player has done at Indian Wells? The Pole is one of 10 women to have won multiple Indian Wells titles. The others are Navratilova, Mary Joe Fernández, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchová, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.
However, no female player has ever won the title for a third time.
“The results haven’t been what I would wish for because in most of the tournaments I lost somewhere around quarterfinals,” Swiatek said of her start to 2026.
“It would be great to improve that but it’s tennis. There are many factors coming in and influencing that.”
Swiatek is bidding to win her first title since the Korean Open last September.
