Indian Wells begins this Thursday, with one of the most prestigious tournaments hosting all of today’s best tennis players. Plenty of questions are ahead of this event, in both the male and female parts of the draw.
The odds are already released, and you can find them at this link. But before you do that, take a few minutes of your time to read a short preview of both the gents’ and the ladies’ part of the competition.
Indian Wells Men’s Draw
The big question is whether Novak Djokovic might return after losing in the Aussie Open finals. The Serbian suffered a big-time blow to Jannik Sinner, whose morale is now at the highest possible level before this tournament.
Sinner will be tested because plenty of guys are waiting to challenge the Italian. Among them is Alexander Zverev, who still remembers his exit from Melbourne and is eager to win one major and also Rublev and Tsitsipas, who are in his part of the draw.
The guy who is a bit under the radar is Carlos Alcaraz, whose previous performances haven’t been as expected, which is the reason why he dropped out of the media headlines. His performance in California will tell us plenty about his form and prospects for this year.
Our favorite darkhorse is Daniil Medvedev, who performed very well in Australia but eventually stayed out of the finals. Medvedev likes these types of surfaces, and he could be the surprise here.
Another guy who might jump out of nowhere is Taylor Fritz, who knows how to win the trophy in these courts. He lifted the Delray Beach Open title last month and has a huge motive to prove himself.
It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from this amazing tournament at Indian Wells.
Everyone knows how much I love this place and how much I love to play here. That’s also one of the reasons why I came very early to the desert to practice and try to get ready. pic.twitter.com/gmvs5kfGO2— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) March 7, 2024
Rafael Nadal was supposed to come back in this one, but the Spaniard decided to withdraw at the last moment. It seems that there won’t be his last push and the run at the Olympics this year because Nadal simply can’t get back in shape anymore.
The men’s part of the tournament has had seven different winners in the past seven editions, which is a rarety knowing that the Big Three domianted tennis. Last year’s champion was Alcaraz, who was better than Medvedev.
Indian Wells Women’s Draw
The situation is even more extreme when talking about the champions in the ladies’ part of the draw. The last 10 were different, with the most recent being Elena Rybakina, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the finals.
The Belarus player is the second favorite for the title this year, right behind Iga Swiatek, who already has the Indian Wells trophy. The Polish star hasn’t been that impressive recently, but knowing her game and dominance over the past two years is forcing the bookies to make her the top contender. Of course, as the reigning Australian Open winner, Sabalenka comes here at full speed, and we are also monitoring her.
Rybakina is third on the list, and given the fact that she has two titles already, in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi, plus a finals in Doha where she lost to Swiatek, we have to admit that the Kazakhstan player is in good shape.
Coco Gauff, the home crowd favorite, is also in the mix. The young American showed improvement last season, indicating that she might finally be able to start winning big-time tournaments consistently. We can’t say that she doesn’t have experience because that point is way past.
For more information about the odds, visit BetXchange, which has amazing offers for all types of bettors, and be sure that you won’t find better numbers on the market.