We’ve had a lot of surprise winners in 2025. Are any of them a danger in the desert?
There have been a wide variety of success stories already in 2025. Anisimova, Muchova, Ostapenko, Andreeva, Pegula, Navarro, Kessler, Tauson, Bencic, Krueger and Osaka, among others, have all won titles or made finals.
As for who could be a factor, you have to start with Mirra Andreeva, who is coming off her first 1000-level title in Dubai. That included a straight-set win over Swiatek. Is the 17-year-old ready for more right away, or will be a valley after that peak? She could start against a returning Petra Kvitova, and then play two women she beat in Dubai, Clara Tauson and No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, after that.
Pegula and Navarro, as the No. 4 and 10 seeds, can’t be called dark horses. Can they be called possible title contenders at home, after each won a tournament this weekend? They may both have to get past a bomb-thrower to do it: Pegula could get an early test from Jelena Ostapenko, and Navarro the same from Keys.
Then there’s Anisimova. Like Keys, the 23-year-old hasn’t had much success in Indian Wells. But like Keys, she can out-hit anyone, she’s coming off a career-best performance, and she should have the fans with her. She may need them if she plays Belinda Bencic in her opener.
Finally, we’ll run it back a few years. In 2018, Naomi Osaka announced herself to the world when she won Indian Wells as an unseeded player. She’ll try to do the same when she faces Camila Osorio in her opener, and Tauson after that.
