The calendar has turned to March, and that means it’s time for the Sunshine Double–the prestigious back-to-back Masters 1000 swing in Indian Wells and Miami.
First up is the BNP Paribas Open, where 45 of the top 46 player in the world are in the field–with top-ranked Jannik Sinner (suspended) the only absentee. It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason, and it should be another awesome fortnight in the desert.
Here are my picks for the 2025 Indian Wells Masters.
BNP Paribas Open
Where: Palm Springs, California
Surface: Hard
Top seed: Alexander Zverev
Defending champion: Carlos Alcaraz
The toughest draw arguably belongs to Zverev, who awaits the winner of a first-round showdown between Tallon Griekspoor and recent Delray Beach winner Miomir Kecmanovic. The second-ranked German could face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the third round, Acapulco champion Tomas Machac in the fourth round, and Dubai champ Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals. The top half of the bracket also includes Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, and Tommy Paul.
The other side is home to Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. In fact, they could go head-to-head as early as the quarters–just as they did at the Australian Open. Djokovic, who has not won a match since retiring from his semifinal match at Melbourne Park against Zverev because of a hamstring injury, has a possible second-round battle on his hands with Nick Kyrgios. Elsewhere in the bottom half, former IW champion Taylor Fritz (2022) is on a collision course for the last eight with Doha victory Andrey Rublev.
First-round matchups to watch include Griekspoor vs. Kecmanovic, Fonseca vs. Jake Fearnley, Nishesh Basavareddy vs. Bu Yunchaokete, Kei Nishikori vs. Jaume Munar, Matteo Arnaldi vs. Aleksandar Kovacevick, Learner Tien vs. Mariano Navone, Jakub Mensik vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Benjamin Bonzi vs. Jenson Brooksby, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Mackenzie McDonald, Lorenzo Sonego vs. David Goffin, and Gael Monfils vs. Jan-Lennard Struff.
Quarterfinal picks: Tomas Machac over Matteo Berrettini, Tommy Paul over Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime over Learner Tien, and Carlos Alcaraz over Alex de Minaur
Semifinal picks: Paul over Machac and Alcaraz over Auger-Aliassime
Final pick: Alcaraz over Paul
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.