The joint Masters 1000 event has seen its fair share of upsets, but the 2022 winners are into the elite eight in Indian Wells. We take a look at who’s remaining – plus the schedule for the final five days.
Could Taylor Fritz and Iga Swiatek make history in the California desert?
Never in the 33 previous stagings of the combined ATP and WTA 1000-level event has both the men’s and women’s defending champions successfully retained their crown at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
But Fritz and Swiatek are just a handful of wins away from doing just that.
Quarter-final action is set to get underway on Wednesday (15 March), with the bottom half of the respective draws set for action, including rising American stars Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe.
Known as “tennis paradise,” Indian Wells is considered the biggest tournament outside of the sport’s four Grand Slams. The stop marks the first time fans are seeing all the top tennis stars gathered in one place since the Australian Open concluded in late January.
The event kicks off tennis’ “Sunshine Double,” with the Miami Open – another 1000-level event – held straight after, 19 March-2 April.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic – a five-time champion at Indian Wells – withdrew from the tournament prior to it starting due to U.S. travel restrictions around unvaccinated foreigners, while fellow great Rafael Nadal – a three-time champ – is still recovering from a hip injury sustained in his second round loss in Melbourne.
Reigning US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz is still in, however, as is AO women’s champ Aryna Sabalenka, a red-hot Daniil Medvedev and veteran Petra Kvitova, among others.
