BNP Paribas live Wednesday: Paula Badosa withdraws, early winners, Andy Murray's last hurrah?
It's March and that means the BNP Paribas Open is underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Celebrating its 50th year, the event remains the largest two-week combined WTA and ATP tournament outside of the four Grand Slams. Well be chronicling the action on and off the court daily in Indian Wells as nearly all of the top 75 men's and women's players put on a show for the next two weeks.
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Thursday's Order of Play: Matches get underway at 11 a.m.
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Sabalenka's mom wants variety on the mantle
Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 2-ranked player in the world who won her second consecutive Australian Open in January, was asked Wednesday during a news conference where her two Australian Open trophies are. She said they are at her mom's house, but her mother had a little request.
"My mom has them and they are side by side, she calls them twins," said Sabalenka, a finalist here last year. "She said we need to have something different, it looks boring with just two of the same ones. Can you work on the other Slams? And I was like 'Gee, what an easy request, thanks.' Let's just appreciate these two. They weren't easy to get."
Paula Badosa, the 2021 BNP Paribas champion, withdraws
The 2021 BNP Paribas Open champion Paula Badosa has withdrawn from the tournament at Indian Wells. Badosa, who played doubles in the Tie Break Tens event known as the Eisenhower Cup on Tuesday night, announced Wednesday on social media that she will have to withdraw.
"So sorry I have to withdraw from my favorite tournament," she wrote on social media. "I tried everything to be able to play but wasn't enough. I'm having a very difficult time with my injury but I'm fighting every day to come back as soon as possible."
She had been nursing a bad back in the early stages of 2024, but did not show any signs of hampered play during Tuesday night's event. She will be replaced in the field by Nadia Podoroska of Argentina. Podoroska will play American Ashlyn Krueger later tonight in the first round.
In the men's draw: Alexei Popyrin of Australia withdrew and was replaced in the field by Jurij Rodionov of Austria. Rodionov is now set to play Fabian Marozsan in the first round on Wednesday afternoon.
– Shad Powers
Wednesday WTA winners
Former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber was among the early winners Wednesday as main-draw play began for both the women and men. Kerber collected her first Top 100 win since coming back from maternity leave when she topped Petra Martic 6-3, 6-4 to advance to a second-round match with No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko.
Kerber gave birth to daughter Liana last February and returned to action in January. But the German lost six of her first seven matches back, with the sole victory coming against Ajla Tomljanovic at the United Cup.
In other WTA first-round matches:
Marie Bouzkova beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-1, 6-1
Qualifier Rebecca Sramkova topped Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-0.
Tatjana Maria beat Arantxa Rus 7-6(5), 6-2.
Katie Volynets def. Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 7-5
Camila Giorgi def. Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-2
Mai Hontama def. Shuai Zhang 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
Bernarda Pera def. Daria Saville 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5)
Yulia Putintseva def. Tamara Korpatsch 6-2, 6-3
– Matt Solinsky
Wednesday's ATP winners
In a matchup of two Americans on Stadium 1, Brandon Nakashima advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Christopher Eubanks.
In other ATP round one matches:
Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Marcos Giron 6-3, 7-5
Christopher O'Connell beat Jack Draper 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Alexander Shevchenko def. Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
Yannick Hanfmann beat Pedro Cachin 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-1
Andy Murray def. David Goffin 6-3, 6-2
Matteo Arnaldi def. Luca Van Assche 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3)
Fabian Marozsan def. Jurij Rodionov 6-3, 6-2
Taro Daniel def. Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-1
– Matt Solinsky
BNP Paribas 2024 field features 11 former champions
NOTE: The tournament had 11 former champions until 2021 winner Paula Badosa withdrew Wednesday afternoon.
Eleven former champions (six women and five men) have returned to Indian Wells for the opportunity to hoist the Baccarat trophy on Sunday, March 17.
On the men's side, Novak Djokovic will be seeking a record-breaking sixth career title and Rafael Nadal is chasing a fourth Indian Wells title. The last three champions – Carlos Alcaraz (2023), Taylor Fritz (2022) and Cameron Norrie are all looking for their second titles.
Six former champions on the WTA side will be vying for another taste of Indian Wells glory in 2024. Two-time winner Victoria Azarenka (2012, 2016) will vie for a third title in the desert, with Caroline Wozniacki (2011), Naomi Osaka (2018), Paula Badosa (2021), Iga Swiatek (2022) and defending champion Elena Rybakina (2023) looking for their second BNP Paribas Open titles.
– Matt Solinsky
Teen break throughs in Indian Wells
Let's hear it for the teenagers! Three American teens broke through in qualifying this week in Indian Wells to earn qualifying wild cards into the main draw that begins Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Ethan Quinn, who won the NCAA singles title last year at a freshman at the University of Georgia, qualified for his first Masters 1000 tournament by beating Andrea Vavassori 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Two other US teenagers emerged from qualifying in the women’s draw -- 2021 US Open junior winner Robin Montgomery and 2022 Wimbledon junior champion Liv Hovde.
The 19-year-old Montgomery was a BNP Paribas Open wild card in 2022 and a qualifying wild card in 2023. This will be the first WTA main draw for the 18-year-old Hovde.
– Matt Solinsky
Last dance for Andy Murray at BNP Paribas?
Could this be the last dance for British legend Andy Murray in Indian Wells?
The three-time Grand Slam champion, who turns 37 in May, plays the third match of the day Wednesday on Stadium 1 against David Goffin.
Murray recently said he is not planning to "play much past this summer" but he still wants to compete at another Olympic Games before he retires. Murray lost 6-2, 6-4 to France's Ugo Humbert in the Dubai second round in his most recent event.
"I get asked about it after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play," Murray said in Dubai. "I'm bored of the question, to be honest. I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But I don't plan on playing much past this summer."
This marks Murray's 16th trip to Indian Wells. He had his best result in the California desert with a finals run in 2009, falling to Rafael Nadal.
– Matt Solinsky
Storm approaching: How much rain is expected in the Coachella Valley on Wednesday?
BNP Paribas stats: First time for everything
One of the interesting tournament statistics on the men's side is the fact that the last five men’s singles champions at Indian Wells have been first-time winners here.
Those five include:
2018: Juan Martin del Potro
2019: Dominic Thiem
2021: Cameron Norrie
2022: Taylor Fritz
2023: Carlos Alcaraz
Conversely, the last six women’s singles champions at Indian Wells have been first-time winners. They include:.
2017: Elena Vesnina
2018: Naomi Osaka
2019: Bianca Andreescu
2021: Paula Badosa
2022: Iga Swiatek
2023: Elena Rybakina
– Matt Solinsky
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray
