US Open champions Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu are among the headline names competing in the men’s and women’s singles at this week’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
It is less than a month since world number two Medvedev dismantled Novak Djokovic to claim his first Grand Slam men’s singles title at Flushing Meadows, a day after British teenager Raducanu had shocked the world by becoming the first qualifier to win one of the big four events in the ladies draw.
Both will now be hoping to build on that winning momentum at the BNP Paribas Open, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious events on both the ATP and WTA Tours away from the Grand Slams.
Medvedev the Player to Beat in the Men’s Singles
The absence of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would be a blow to any tournament, but there will still be 16 of the world’s top 20 players competing in the men’s draw at Indian Wells, including newly crowned US Open champion Medvedev.
Medvedev has been in scintillating form of late, winning 16 of his last 17 matches, a run that includes his Grand Slam success in New York, as well as his triumph on his last appearance in an ATP Masters 1000 event at the Canadian Open in August.
Both those successes came on hard courts – the same surface in operation at Indian Wells – and with 12 of Medvedev’s 13 career victories on the ATP Tour having also come on that surface, it is difficult to back against him going all the way in California.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini will all be expected to rival Medvedev for the title, but perhaps the player with the best chance of denying the Russian is sixth seed Casper Ruud.
No player has won more events than Ruud on the ATP Tour this year, with the Norwegian capturing his fifth title of 2021 on the hard courts at the San Diego Open earlier this month.
Ruud beat Andy Murray on his way to winning in San Diego, and the Briton is perhaps the headline draw in the first round given the top 32 seeds for the event have been handed a bye into round two.
Murray will be facing Adrian Mannarino in his opening match, a player he has not lost to in two previous meetings, with the former world number one priced at 2/7 to make it through to round two, while his French opponent is available at 49/20.
Value May Lie Away From Raducanu
Raducanu is the name on everyone lips following her exploits in New York and the 18-year-old is likely to have plenty of expectations on her shoulders heading into her first event since that triumph, especially as she is priced at 7/1 to win the tournament.
The teenager has been installed as the 17th seed on what will be her first appearance at Indian Wells, while she will also head into the event without a permanent coach after deciding against turning her short-term arrangement with Andrew Richardson into a permanent deal.
All that suggests that lightning may not strike twice for Raducanu, with more value perhaps being found in the form of defending champion Bianca Andreescu, who is priced at 25/1, although she is in the same quarter of the draw as 16/1 top seed Karolína Pliskova.
Leylah Fernandez, who was beaten by Raducanu in the US Open final and is seeded at 23, is priced at 20/1, while at the other end of the scale, 38-year-old former world number one Kim Clijsters will be returning to Indian Wells for the first time in a decade – the four-time Grand Slam winner is an unsurprising 500/1 outsider given this will be just her fifth tournament appearance on the WTA Tour since 2012.
*All odds correct at time of writing.