Indian Wells Preview

Resting below the mountains of Santa Rosa and San Jacinto, cuddled in by scenic country clubs and shaded under the evergreen palm trees lies Tennis Paradise. The calendar’s unofficial 5th Grand Slam falls in spring again.

Last year’s tournament was played in October whilst the 2020 edition fell casualty to Covid-19. This year, however, the hard courts of Indian Wells are ready to welcome the sports most esteemed talents.

These include; newly-crowned world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev regardless of the controversy they bring and the defending champions in Britain’s Cam Norrie and Spain’s Paula Badosa.

Although the tournament still boasts an illustrious crop of names, the women’s division will be without the top two players. Ash Barty hasn’t recovered from her heroics in Melbourne, she will also miss the Miami Open, and one down the pecking order is Barbora Krejcikova who has withdrawn due to an elbow injury.

Nonetheless, their absence opens the door for a flock of female talent primed to earn glory. The leading favourites include Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Anett Kontaveit and the reigning champion.

Sabalenka has struggled since her US Open semi-final defeat winning six of her 11 matches in 2022. Comprehensive victories over Alize Cornet and Jil Teichmann in Doha last month seemed to of gotten her back on track only to be run down by the Polish freight train, Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.

The 2020 French Open champion went onto win in Doha dismantling Kontaveit in the final with aggression-fuelled tennis. She won her second 1000-level tournament dropping one set throughout the week in Qatar. Ranked No.4, the 20-year-old continues to impress and she remains the favourite from her quarter of the draw to progress to the final four.

If anyone is going to claim the title, they’ll have the seismic task of beating Badosa. The Spaniard started 2021 ranked 70th and enters Indian Wells as world No.7 just 14 months later. Since her maiden 1000-level conquest, her game has mirrored a bull in the streets of Pamplona.

She clinched her third singles title in Sydney earlier this year and is an obsessed lover of the Californian courts. However, like a bull she needs the motivation to succeed and in-form opponents like Kontaveit and Jelena Ostapenko will want to keep the red rag stowed away.

Only Emma Raducanu avoided qualifying for Indian Wells as Heather Watson, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart all battled through to make it to the first round. Hopes of success, once again, fall onto the packhorse shoulders of the US Open champion. Although she has received a first-round bye, Ukranian Dayana Yastremska or Caroline Garcia provide tricky opposition in round two for a less-than-fresh Raducanu.

For Britain, success was nowhere to be seen at Indian Wells until Norrie won his first 1000-level title last October capping off a remarkable year for the British No.1. He stalled at the start 2022, but has gone through the gears ever since winning in Delray Beach and losing out to an unbeaten Nadal in the Acapulco final.

Should Norrie continue to motor, a potential match-up with Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last 16 will provide stern competition. Even then, Medvedev or Nadal toweringly stand in his way of a repeat victory. Fellow-Brit, Dan Evans could prevent Norrie facing off against Nadal if he is to stop him in the third round, whilst Liam Broady’s place in the tournament remains unconfirmed as he navigates through qualifying.

Hushed hope simmers in the corner of Andy Murray fans following his reunion with Ivan Lendl. The pairing produced all three of his Grand Slam triumphs and although expectation of him winning the tournament is paper-thin, Lendl has had the keys to unlock Murray’s mental block in the past. For his sake, the wish is that the locks haven’t been changed.

If all goes well for the Brit, an encounter with Djokovic awaits in the third round. With no end in sight to the Serbian’s saga his appearance remains up in the air, as it did in Melbourne and the foreseeable.

Discounting Djokovic as a participant leaves Felix Auger-Aliassime, Zverev and Matteo Berrettini as potential winners. The young Canadian won his first tour title in Rotterdam and will be keen to take advantage of the draw that includes the latter two, both of which he has most recently conquered.

However, on the scale of favourites, Nadal and Medvedev outweigh everyone. It is very difficult to dismiss the world No.1 and a man who is 15-0 this year. Unfortunately for the romantic, these two will not be meeting in the final but a semi-final clash still serves up a spicy affair.

Round one action begins on March 9th with the men’s final ending the tournament on March 20th.