BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Players To Watch
Taylor Fritz (18-1): Which version of Fritz will show up to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden? The American won this tournament in 2022, and he was runner-up at the US Open last year. He has proven that his best tennis is good enough to beat pretty much anyone. But this year, Fritz hasn’t looked anything like the player that achieved either of those big results. He comes into this tournament after having lost three of his last five, and one of those was a disappointing straight-set loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Delray Beach. Fritz then backed out of Acapulco, citing an injury he has been dealing with to start the new season.
If Fritz isn’t playing like himself, he’ll be on Upset Watch early on. However, if he finds his game, he has the ability to win this tournament. The slower conditions in Indian Wells allow Fritz to do solid work as a returner, and also help him grind along the baseline—and his serve is a weapon anywhere. So, you can’t rule out a run, even though he’s in the same half as Alcaraz and Djokovic.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (18-1): Is Tsitsipas back? Perhaps this is tennis’ version of college football’s ‘Is Texas back?’ Tsitsipas has been disappointing as a hard-court player in recent seasons, but he won his first 500-level title last week in Dubai. Along the way, he earned wins over Lorenzo Sonego, Karen Khachanov, Matteo Berrettini, Tallon Griekspoor and Felix Auger-Aliassime. It was really an impressive run for Tsitsipas, who also underwent a racquet change. Well, whether it was that or a mentality change, Tsitsipas looked like a new guy in Dubai. His serve and forehand looked really sharp throughout the week, and he also hit the backhand with more confidence.
That shot will never be a strength for the former world No. 3, but he will always be a threat to go deep as long as he’s not beating himself from that side of the court. And realistically, with the switch to Laykold courts, Tsitsipas can be a factor in the desert—especially since he would avoid Djokovic and Alcaraz until the finals.
