BNP Paribas Open women's draw: Where did Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Emma Raducanu land?
The BNP Paribas Open women's draw was held Monday afternoon, but with the way the current "Big Four" are playing it's hard to envision one of them not winning this event.
I'm talking about the top four-ranked women in the world right now: No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 4 Elena Rybakina. That quarter has combined to win six of the last eight Grand Slams and the last two titles at Indian Wells.
So one thing the draw revealed is that if the big four all make the semifinals it would be Swiatek vs. Rybakina and Gauff vs. Sabalenka.
Where the rest of the 96 players in the field fell didn't produce a lot of drama as a large crowd gathered for the reveal, and heard from Leylah Fernandez who was on hand to talk about her recent play.
Three of the more high-profile unseeded players — Venus Williams, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu — all drew qualifiers in their opening-round matches so we'll have to wait and see who they'll open against.
That trio also avoided any immediate threat from the upper crust of the field on the women's side. With a win, Williams will play Veronika Kudermetova, the No. 19-ranked player in the world, Osaka will play No. 14 Lily Samsonova and Raducanu will play No. 30 Dayana Yastremska.
Matches we'd like to see
Now that the draw is out, here are some matches we'd like to see happen:
Badosa vs. Rybakina: The 2021 champion here, Paula Badosa required a wild card to qualify this year, and dropped into the draw in a fascinating position. Badosa will face American Ashlyn Krueger in the first round and with a win would face Rybakina, the defending champ. So we're likely to be treated to the 2021 champ vs. the 2023 champ in the second round. Wow!
Pegula vs. Pliskova: American Jessica Pegula, the No. 5 seed here, didn't catch any breaks as her first opponent may well be Karolina Pliskova, who earned a wild card into the event. Pliskova, possessor of one of the hardest serves, opens with Anna Blinkova and with a win would face Pegula in an anticipated second-round match.
Azarenka vs. Zheng: Victoria Azarenka, a two-time champion at Indian Wells, is the No. 27 seed and she is lined up to play rising star Qinwen Zheng in the third round. The talented young Chinese player who made the Australian Open final would make for a fascinating matchup with the veteran Azarenka if they both advance.
How the quarterfinals line up
If form holds throughout the women's draw, this is how the quarterfinals line up, so you can kind of see which of the top eight women has an easier path.
No. 1 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 6 Ons Jabeur
No. 4 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 7 Marketa Vondrousova
No. 3 Coco Gauff vs. No. 8 Qinwen Zheng
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 5 Jessica Pegula
In the semifinals, as mentioned above, it would be Swiatek vs. Rybakina in a battle of the two most recent champions, and Gauff vs. Sabalenka in the other half.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open women's draw: Indian Wells 2024 bracket revealed
