BNP Paribas Open predictions: Picking a favorite, sleeper and dark horse from both draws
The BNP Paribas Open men's and women's main draws both start on Wednesday so this seems like a perfect time for some predictions.
Let's start with the women's field, where anything can happen. No one has repeated as champion at Indian Wells since the 1990s and twice in the last five years an unseeded player won the tournament. It's usually wide open, but ...
Favorite (a top 10 seed): I'm finding it impossible not to pick defending champion Iga Swiatek. A bold pick to go with the World's No. 1 player, I know, but she just seems so on top of her game right now both physically and mentally, and is one of the heavier favorites entering this event I can remember.
Sleeper (seeds 11-32): I'll go with the veteran Victoria Azarenka as someone with the potential to rise above her seeding and go all the way. She enters as the No. 14 seed, but she has won here twice and made the final in 2021. She also made a deep run in Australia.
Dark horse (unseeded): And for a true unseeded wild-card, I'll go with Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine. The 20-year-old has risen to No. 40 in the world rankings, her highest position, and already has a win in 2023 in Austin. And for an unseeded player, her draw is not particularly daunting.
This year, the men's field feels like the more wide-open group. It's well-documented that the "Big Three" aren't here, so another first-time champion might be in the offing. There have been six different champions in the last six iterations of this event.
Favorite (top 10 seed): Carlos Alcaraz has the most talent and Taylor Fritz is the defending champion, but I'm going to go with No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to finally break through in Indian Wells. He's due for a big title and he made the Australian Open final. This is the year for the talented Greek star.
Sleeper (seeded 11-32): I like American Tommy Paul as the No. 17 seed to keep his strong play up and make a deep run. He's playing his best tennis, he likes playing in the desert and his confidence level is high. Don't be surprised to see him still hanging around late into the second week.
Dark horse (unseeded): For an unseeded player to make a deep run, it's tempting to go with a veteran like Andy Murray or Dominic Thiem, but I'll go with Yibing Wu. I'm just jumping on the Yibing Wu bandwagon myself, but the uber-talented 23-year-old player from China was given a wild-card for good reason. He just became the first man from China to win an ATP event, capturing the title in Dallas in February, beating Taylor Fritz, Denis Shapovalov and John Isner along the way. It would be fun for the tournament if he could make a deep run, and I love where he fell in the draw. Get to know Yibing Wu.
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open predictions: Picking Indian Wells winners, sleepers and dark horses
