The Oscars are over but awards season isn’t done. With the first round completed at the BNP Paribas Open, we have our own awards to dish out.

Best shot: Joao Fonseca

Data at the Australian Open showed that Joao Fonseca’s ball speed rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Anyone who saw the forehand he thumped against Jacob Fearnley on Thursday would understand why.

The 18-year-old Brazilian tipped for greatness rocketed an inside-out forehand into the corner that looked quick even in slow motion. Fonseca won in three sets in his debut in the desert and plays another player from Britain, 13th seed Jack Draper, in the second round.

Best shot with a little luck: Corentin Moutet

Although you never quite know what to expect in a Corentin Moutet match, you can count on the Frenchman to produce some magic. The diminutive French lefty did it again against Jordan Thompson, authoring a between the legs winner from the baseline facing the net.

Dribbling off the top of the tape, even the speedy Thompson had no chance to reach the ball. Moutet subsequently knelt to the court and thanked the heavens.

Best quote: Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka lost a tough one to counterpuncher Camila Osorio on Wednesday. The four-time Grand Slam winner made 50 unforced errors in two sets in what was her first match since retiring at the Australian Open with an abdominal injury.

Osaka wasn’t impressed with her performance and said as much on social media. She earlier told reporters: “I find it more fun to get back on the court after a loss, just because I feel like I've learned so much from the loss, and it's kind of, like, I can't wait to apply it sort of thing.”

Osaka next takes to the court at the Miami Open.

Best drop shot artist: Camila Osorio

Osaka felt she could have played better against Osorio, but the Colombian’s variety didn’t allow the Japanese power baseliner to get into any sort of rhythm. Osorio adores the drop shot and used it throughout, attempting them from virtually all parts of the court.

Best match point escape: Thiago Seyboth Wild

Thiago Seyboth Wild looked like he was on his way out of the tournament when he faced two match points against Alexandre Muller. But Seyboth Wild — Fonseca’s countryman who once hit 69 winners on clay against Daniil Medvedev — escaped.

Muller’s backhand miscue and a forehand passing shot error with the match on his racquet got Seyboth Wild out of danger as he served at 4-5 in the third set. Seyboth Wild’s finest blow might have been a lightning forehand down the line at 6-6 in the final set tiebreak that left the Frenchman in disbelief. Muller, who made two finals this season, had been 6-1 in
tiebreaks in 2025.

Craziest match point saved: Tomas Martin Etcheverry

Tomas Martin Etcheverry, a Grand Slam quarterfinalist, managed to stay in his outing against big-serving Czech Jakub Mensik thanks to... Mother Nature.

Down a match point at 5-6 in the second set, the Argentine badly mishit a forehand that went sky high. It seemed destined to go wide and/or long until the wind blew it back
into play. The rally continued, Etcheverry snared the point and then held to get to the tiebreak.

But destiny wasn’t on his side. Mensik edged the tiebreak, converting on his fifth match
point.

Best rally: Nishesh Basavareddy and Yunchaokete Bu

Will Nishesh Basavareddy and Yunchaokete Bu remember their outing on Wednesday? Probably, since it marked their Indian Wells debuts and they featured on the biggest court. Basavareddy hails from California, too.

Bu won in straight sets but his Next Gen foe won the longest rally of the match, a 27-shot baseline duel to begin the final game. Bu persisted and held serve to close out the match, setting up a clash with two-time finalist Medvedev.

Best win after a long gap: Jenson Brooksby

Jenson Brooksby might best be known for some of the tennis he played against Novak Djokovic at the 2021 US Open. More generally, his ability to absorb pace and change pace
himself earned him rave reviews.

But a wrist injury and suspension relating to missing three drug tests sidelined the Californian. The 24-year-old, who revealed last December that he has autism, got his first top-tier win since January 2023 by downing Benjamin Bonzi 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Brooksby — competing on a protected ranking — over- turned a break deficit late in the third and later saved five break points at 5-5.

Best win against a familiar foe: Lulu Sun

Last week in Merida, Mexico, Rebecca Sramkova beat Lulu Sun 6-3, 6-1 in a battle of breakout 2024 players. Sun won six second serve points the whole match. But last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist got the better of Sramkova on Wednesday, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (2).

The left-hander from New Zealand almost lost again, though, trailing 5-3 in the third. She’ll hope it’s the start of something good. Sun had lost 11 of her previous 12 matches.

Wildest finish to a suspended match: Gabriel Diallo vs. Zhang Zhizhen

Rain forced lucky loser Gabriel Diallo and Zhang Zhizhen off court on Wednesday night with the score tied 4-4 in the third set.

The potent servers came back on Thursday afternoon and kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Zhang saved three straight match points at 5-6 with attacking play before having two match points himself in the tiebreak, one on his own serve.But the Canadian saved the latter with a lightning forehand that left a stretched Zhang on the floor and eventually sealed the tiebreak 9-7.