Second round singles action begins on Friday, as top seeds play their opening matches.
Jack Draper is the defending men’s singles champion, but this will be only his second ATP tournament since withdrawing from the US Open last August due to an elbow injury. Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed, and arrives in the desert with a perfect record of 12-0 this season, coming off title runs in both Melbourne and Doha. Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are the No.2 and No.3 seeds respectively, though Sinner is yet to reach a final at Indian Wells, and the last of Djokovic’s five titles here occurred all the way back in 2016.
Mirra Andreeva is the defending women’s singles champion, but she has only reached one WTA final since that triumph, and Mirra could drop out of the top 10 with an early loss during this fortnight. Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed, who is coming off a painful loss in the Australian Open final for the second consecutive year, and she’s also a two-time runner-up at this event. Two-time champ Iga Swiatek and newly-crowned Australian Open champ Elena Rybakina are the other top seeds.
Friday sees Sinner and Sabalenka play their opening matches, but the day’s most intriguing contests feature a few notable unseeded ATP stars against top 10 seeds. 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini takes on fourth-seeded Sascha Zverev. And in his last appearance in “Tennis Paradise,” 39-year-old fan favorite Gael Monfils plays ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Here’s a rundown of the most notable matches on Friday (in chronological order, all times local):
Matteo Berrettini vs. Alexander Zverev (4)– 11:00am on Stadium 1
Berrettini required nearly three hours to overcome a pesky Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday, with Matteo collapsing to the court in cramps right after match point, and requiring several minutes to get back to his feet. The Italian is currently ranked 66th in the world, as he’s been unable to stay healthy across the last several seasons. He is 3-4 against Zverev, and has taken their last two meetings, though the German has taken both of their meetings on hard courts.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Himeno Sakatsume (Q) – Not Before 1:00pm on Stadium 1
This will be Sabalenka’s first match since her loss in the Australian Open final, as she took a break from the tour in February. Sakatsume is a 24-year-old Japanese qualifier making her WTA 1000 debut, just six weeks after making her Major debut in Melbourne.
Coco Gauff (4) vs. Kamilla Rakhimova (Q) – Third on Stadium 1
Gauff has been performing well at WTA 1000 tournaments of late, reaching the semifinals or better in five of her last eight appearances. Rakhimova came back from a set down in the last round to oust former US Open champ Bianca Andreescu. Gauff owns a pair of straight-set victories over Rakhimova within the last six months.
Gael Monfils (WC) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (9) – Third on Stadium 3
The soon-to-be retired Monfils has been struggling this past year, within a record of 9-14 across the last 52 weeks. His victory on Wednesday against a qualifier was just his second of the season. Auger-Aliassime had a great February, where he won a title, reached another final, and then reached another semifinal. Surprisingly, these players have only faced off once, which resulted in a Monfils victory six years ago in the final of Rotterdam.
Dalibor Svrcina (Q) vs. Jannik Sinner (2) – Not Before 6:00pm on Stadium 1
After losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, Sinner suffered another surprising loss in the Doha quarterfinals, to Jakub Mensik. Jannik advanced to the semifinals the last two times he played in Indian Wells, though he missed last year’s event due to his three-month suspension for failed drug tests. Svrcina is a 23-year-old qualifier from the Czech Republic who is playing his first match against a top 10 player.
Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (Q) vs. Naomi Osaka (16) – Not Before 6:00pm on Stadium 2
This will be Osaka’s first match since withdrawing from the Australian Open due to an abdominal injury. Her title run here eight years ago was a big breakout moment in her career, but in her four appearances since, Naomi hasn’t advanced farther than the fourth round. Jimenez Kasintseva is a 20-year-old qualifier from Andorra who won the Australian Open girls’ singles title back in 2020.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
