It’s time for the first half of the Sunshine Double when hundreds of players meet in the desert for the combined ATP and WTA 1000 tournament at Indian Wells: The BNP Paribas Open.

The main draw kicks off on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, and will close with both the women’s and men’s singles final on Sunday, March 17, 2024 starting at 2:00 pm ET.

Here’s a preview of this year’s BNP Paribas Open, with a look at some of the big questions and fine details so you can get the most out of the next two weeks of action from Indian Wells.

How to Watch Indian Wells

In the U.S., Tennis Channel, TC Plus, and T2 are the main avenues for catching matches throughout these two weeks of action from the desert. Tennis Channel will also host a program before live coverage begins each day.

Get the full rundown on viewing from Tennis Watchers.

Three Big Questions

1) Will Rafael Nadal return to Indian Wells one last time? Nadal has made it clear that, barring a miracle, 2024 will be his last year on tour. He’s already bailed on multiple tournaments this year because of his injury-riddled body. Is he willing to risk his physical health on hard courts just before the part of the year when he wants to have one final triumph?

Magic 8 Ball says: Outlook not so good.

2) How big of a push can Naomi Osaka make? The former world number one has been easing into her return to the game this year with some early — but justifiable — losses. However, last month in Doha she made the quarterfinals where she lost to an on-fire Karolina Pliskova in two thrilling tiebreak sets. Can she build on that momentum for a deep run in the desert?

3) Where does Novak Djokovic stand? This will be the first time in five years since Djokovic played the BNP Paribas Open. And, the truth is, we haven’t seen much of him lately. He’s made it clear his focus is on majors at this stage of his career, and Indian Wells will be only his second standard tournament of the year. Is he ready? Only he and his team will know the answer to that question for sure.

The Draws

It’s rare that all the top 8 seeds make it to the quarterfinals of a 1000 tournament, but who knows? Maybe history will made this year. And if that happens, here are the projected quarterfinal match-ups based on seedings.

Women’s quarterfinals:
1 Iga Swiatek vs. 6 Ons Jabeur
4 Elena Rybakina vs. 7 Marketa Vondrousova
8 Qinwen Zheng vs. 3 Coco Gauff
5 Jessica Pegula vs. 2 Aryna Sabalenka

Men’s quarterfinals:
1 Novak Djokovic vs. 8 Hubert Hurkacz
4 Daniil Medvedev vs. 7 Holger Rune
5 Andrey Rublev vs. 3 Jannik Sinner
6 Alexander Zverev vs. 2 Carlos Alcaraz

Unfortunate First Rounds

Whether it’s fellow country people or fan favorites facing off, here are some first round matches that we simply wish weren’t happening.

  • Robin Montgomery vs. Hailey Baptiste: Two young women of color from the U.S. battled their way through qualies just to face off in the first round. Rough.
  • Ethan Quinn vs. Patrick Kypson: This is another all-American match up with two young players on the rise. It’s a shame that either one of these two will have to go home right off the bat.
  • Milos Raonic vs. Rafa Nadal: Both of these veterans are trying to come back from lengthy injuries. Couldn’t they face somebody — anybody?! — else?
  • Who Got the Indian Wells Wild Cards?

Five men and five women received wild cards into the BNP Paribas Open. A mix of big names and scrappy upstarts have made their way onto the lists.

Men’s Singles Wild Cards
Aleksandar Kovacevic, Patrick Kypson, Fabio Fognini, Brandon Nakashima, Jakub Mensik

Women’s Singles Wild Cards
Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Katie Volynets, Ashlyn Krueger, McCartney Kessler

Read, Watch, Listen

A few things to get you in the mood:

Who to Follow

  • There is absolutely no doubt you’ll want to follow what the Racquet team is up to at Indian Wells over on Instagram. It’s fun. It’s beautiful. It’s a blast. It’s crave-worthy.
  • For something a little different, follow Will Boucek for his incredible insights and captures on all things doubles.
  • And keep up with Court Theory’s Indian Wells updates on The Daily Theory. We can talk all things tennis by following Court Theory on Twitter. Or X. Or whatever we’re calling it these days.