The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The men’s draw at the tournament was first held in 1974, while the women’s tournament began in 1989. It’s one of the premier tennis events on both the ATP and WTA schedules, bringing together all of the top players in the world to compete for nearly $10 in prize money and significant rankings points (1,000 for the winners).
The two-week tournament featured plenty of upsets and exciting tennis matches, but the cream rose to the top with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek winning the men’s and women’s draws, respectively. Let’s take a look back at the BNP Paribas Open final recap.
Alcaraz Defends Title
Alcaraz wasn’t the betting favorite in tennis odds coming into the tournament but proved himself one of the best players in the world in the BNP Paribas Open final recap. The 20-year-old Spaniard had withdrawn from his first-round match in Rio two weeks prior due to injury concerns, but showed incredible perseverance at Indian Wells, with impressive tennis stats against quality competition.
Alcaraz lost his opening set of the tournament but rallied to beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-1. He then beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, Fabian Marozsan, and Alexander Zverev in straight sets. Most impressively, Alcaraz beat world No. 3 and Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was the first loss of the season for Sinner, who was an impressive 16-0 at that point and could have moved into No. 2 with a win.
In a rematch of last year’s final, Alcaraz again proved better than Daniil Medvedev, beating the Russian 7-6 (5), 6-1. He’s the first player to defend his title at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic in 2016.
Is Djokovic on the Decline?
Speaking of Djokovic, it was rather odd to not see him playing in the late rounds at Indian Wells. The five-time champion had a forgettable week, losing to lucky loser Luca Nardi in three sets in the Round of 32. This was his first event since losing to Sinner and proving himself human in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Djokovic even had a tough time with his first-round match, winning in three sets.
The loss to Nardi ranked outside of the top 120 in the world, was his first ATP 1000 loss to an opponent ranked that low in more than 15 years. He didn’t react well to the loss and recently pulled out of his scheduled appearance at the Miami Open, citing scheduling conflicts. Tennis fans have been waiting for Djokovic’s downfall for years, but it really feels like he could be on the decline after his BNP Paribas Open results.
Swiatek Cements World No. 1 Status
In the BNP Paribas Open final recap for the women’s draw, world No. 1 Swiatek proved her hard court supremacy with a dominant performance. Swiatek didn’t drop a set the entire tournament, beating Danielle Collins, Linda Noskova, Yulia Putintseva, Caroline Wozniacki, Marta Kostyuk, and Maria Sakkari. She beat Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 in the final in what was a rematch of the 2022 final.
Swiatek, who also won in 2022, became the 10th woman to win twice at Indian Wells and added 1,000 points, ensuring her spot at the top of the world rankings is protected for a little longer.
What’s Next?
The Miami Open, another ATP/WTA 1000 tournament, begins this week in Miami and runs for the next two weeks. Qualification concludes on Monday with the main draw beginning on Tuesday. Djokovic, a six-time champion in Miami, is one of the most notable absences. Medvedev and Petra Kvitova are the defending champions.
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