One month after their shocking runs to the championship match of the US Open, teenagers Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez will play their first singles matches since that thrilling fortnight. Emma will headline the night session on Stadium 1 alongside fellow Brit Andy Murray, who reached the final here in 2009. Yet this remains one of two Masters 1000 events he has never won.
This will be a unique fall version of the BNP Paribas Open, being staged for the first time since March of 2019. In the absence of “The Big Three,” as well as the men’s defending champion Dominic Thiem, we are guaranteed to crown a new men’s singles champion. Defending women’s champion Bianca Andreescu is in the draw, but she is a mere 5-8 since Roland Garros. And with no Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, or Ash Barty in Indian Wells, will the women’s draw have startling results as it did in New York?
The WTA singles draw will be one day ahead of the ATP throughout the fortnight. The women’s second round begins on Friday, with seeded players (who receive a first round bye) playing their opening matches. The men’s seeds will start to play on Saturday.
Indian Wells also provides some of the best doubles draws of the season, as the two-week schedule, as well as the best-of-three format, encourage many top singles players to enter. Fridays sees three of the ATP’s top 15 players all in one first round doubles contest.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Emma Raducanu (17) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich – Not Before 6:00pm on Stadium 1
Raducanu’s US Open triumph is still hard to comprehend. Ranked 150th in the world, she came through qualifying to win 10 consecutive matches without dropping a set. A month after that life-changing event, having returned back home to Great Britain and realizing her newfound international stardom, how will she respond in her return to the court? That’s difficult to predict, but this should be a rather comfortable opponent for Emma. While Sasnovich was a top 30 player in 2018, she’s now ranked 100th in the world. And she does not possess the groundstrokes, confidence, or poise of Raducanu. The 18-year-old is a favorite to continue her winning ways.
Leylah Fernandez (23) vs. Alize Cornet – Not Before 8:00pm on Stadium 2
Leylah’s run in New York was much more complicated than Emma’s, and perhaps even more impressive despite its bitter ending. The Canadian claimed four consecutive three-setters, with three victories over top five opposition, and the other over three-time Major champion Angelique Kerber. However, Cornet could prove to be a bit too much for Fernandez is she suffers a letdown in form. Alize has accumulated 3 considerable upset ssince June, twice defeating Bianca Andreescu, while also beating Garbine Muguruza. The French veteran also reached a final two months ago in Chicago. She’s made a career out of upsetting top players, and would love to take out the US Open finalist. Most crucially, the crowd on Friday evening at Stadium 2 will likely be not as full or as raucous as the audiences Leylah fed off of in New York.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Iga Swiatek (2) vs. Petra Martic – Swiatek has become one of the WTA’s most consistent performers, as she’s the only player to reach the second week of all four Majors this season. Martic arrived in the desert having lost five of her last six matches.
Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz – Shapovalov and Bopanna have now teamed together for years, while Felix and Hubi won last November’s Paris Masters as a team.
Simona Halep (11) vs. Marta Kostyuk – Halep won this event back in 2015. Kostyuk is a 19-year-old from Ukraine who reached the fourth round of this year’s French Open.
Belinda Bencic (8) vs. Shelby Rogers – Bencic had to retire just last week in Chicago due to a knee injury. Rogers upset Barty in New York, and then upset Andreescu in Chicago.
Adrian Mannarino vs. Andy Murray (WC) – Since his untimely injury while ahead of Roger Federer at Wimbledon, Mannarino has only won one match. Murray has been playing a lot of tennis: this is his seventh event in the last two months, though he’s only gone 6-6.
Jessica Pegula (19) vs. Sloane Stephens – This will be the first meeting between these two Americans. Stephens required nearly three hours to overcome Heather Watson on Wednesday.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
