The hard yards have been logged on the practice courts, the qualifiers have been placed in the main draw, and it’s now go time in Tennis Paradise with main draw play starting Wednesday. As the bottom half of both the men’s and women’s singles draws kick off, get prepped for the action with a special by-the-numbers preview ahead of the first round.
GET 2023 BNP PARIBAS OPEN TICKETSNo. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz can retake the World No.1 ranking from Novak Djokovic if – and only if – he wins the title at Indian Wells. With a first round bye, Alcaraz’s first match will come on Saturday in Tennis Paradise.
No woman has ever won more than two singles titles at Indian Wells (a total of nine have achieved the feat). Victoria Azarenka (2012 and 2016) is the only two-time champion competing in either singles draw this year.
Number of titles won by Daniil Medvedev this season (Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai), which leads all singles players. Medvedev, seeded fifth, also leads the ATP Tour in wins in 2023, with 19 total.
The last four men’s singles champions at Indian Wells have been first-time winners.
2018 Juan Martin del Potro
2019 Dominic Thiem
2021 Cameron Norrie
2022 Taylor Fritz
Will that streak continue in 2023?
The last five women’s singles champions have been first-time champions.
2017: Elena Vesnina
2018: Naomi Osaka
2019 Bianca Andreescu
2021: Paula Badosa
2022: Iga Swiatek
Thus far in 2023, six of the top 10 players on the ATP Tour in terms of service games won are Americans (John Isner, Maxime Cressy, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, JJ Wolf). All six are in the 2023 BNP Paribas Open player field and will be tough outs in the tournament. Can their powerful serves take them deep in the draw?
There are seven former BNP Paribas Open singles champs in this year’s men’s and women’s singles draws, combined.
They are:
Iga Swiatek
Taylor Fritz
Paula Badosa
Cameron Norrie
Bianca Andreescu
Dominic Thiem
Victoria Azarenka
The current ranking of Holger Rune. The 19-year-old Danish phenom was ranked 86th when he made his main draw debut at Indian Wells last year. That jump of 78 spots is the largest of any Top 10 seed in this year’s singles draws, and he’s one of the hottest players headed into the desert.
American Alycia Parks leads all WTA players with 9.8 aces per match in 2023. The hard-serving 22-year-old is fresh off her maiden WTA title, won in February at Lyon, France.
Parks will make her Stadium 1 debut against Anna Kalinskaya on Wednesday evening, in the first night session of the 2023 BNP Paribas Open.
Number of years since Rafael Nadal won his third title at Indian Wells (2013). Due to missing this year’s event, the Spaniard will drop out of the ATP’s Top 10 on March 20, ending a record-smashing streak of 912 consecutive weeks in the Top 10. Nadal was a runner-up in 2022, and owns a lifetime record of 59-11 in the California desert.
