Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Coco Gauff among 10 must-see players at BNP Paribas Open

The BNP Paribas Open is considered by most to be the "Fifth Slam" because of its elite player field and its accommodations at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The event has been named the players' favorite by both the ATP and WTA for nine consecutive years.

The world's best will return to the desert March 3-17, and all of the big names will be in action as the game's legends join the sport's rising stars. Here are the 10 players — 5 men and 5 women — who will likely have a say in who will be holding the trophy at the tournament's end.

Novak Djokovic

You may have heard of this guy. Djokovic, the No. 1 player in the world and owner of the most Grand Slam titles (24) of any player in history, returns to Indian Wells for the first time since 2019. Vaccination decisions prevented him from traveling to Indian Wells, but he's back this year, and still in top form at age 37. He won three of the four Slam titles in 2023. He's had a ton of success in Indian Wells, holding many records. He is tied with Roger Federer for the most wins here (5). His lifetime record in the desert is 50-9, giving him the best winning percentage of all time.

Did you know: If Djokovic were to win the BNP Paribas Open, he would become the oldest to do so, passing Roger Federer who won at 35 years, 7 months, 11 days in 2017.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Champion (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016). Last year: Did not play

Jannik Sinner

While Carlos Alcaraz has garnered a lot of the attention, and deservedly so, for his amazing 2023 which included a BNP Paribas Open title and a Wimbledon crown, Sinner has proven that Alcaraz is not the lone star in the young-gun club. Sinner, only 22, is hot off of his first major breakthrough, winning the Australian Open and ousting Novak Djokovic in the process. Sinner has climbed to No. 3 in the world rankings and possesses one of the most powerful baseline strokes in the business, so he's a fun player to watch just to marvel at the oomph of his groundstrokes.

Did you know: Despite being Italian, Sinner grew up in a German-speaking family. He can speak German, Italian and English.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Semifinal (2023). Last year: Semifinal, lost to Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal

Nadal's first time playing at Indian Wells was in 2004. Twenty years later and he's back again. Nadal, who did not play last year due to injury after making the finals in 2022, is healthy again and ready to perform. He missed the majority of 2023 due to injuries and his ranking has fallen out of the protected seeded player zone, so Nadal will have to play one more round than usual, opening his play on Thursday night. You can never question his desire, but coming off of injury, and certainly having a tough path make it unlikely that the three-time champ can make a deep run, but he's in the GOAT conversation for a reason, so it'd be foolish to count him out entirely.

Did you know: In his 15 appearances at this event, Nadal has made at least the semifinals 11 times.

Best finish in Indian Wells: Champion (2007, 2009, 2013). Last year: Did not play

Taylor Fritz

The top-seeded American thrilled the crowd with his win at the BNP Paribas Open in 2022, ending a long American drought. Despite being consistently in the top 10 since that day peaking at No. 5, Fritz has not added another high-end win to his resume. In his career he has now played in 30 Grand Slam events and 45 Masters 1000 events and the 2022 BNP title is still the only win he has in those 75 attempts. He did make the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open in 2023 and at the Australian Open in January, both times being ousted by Djokovic. Fritz, now 26 years old, is currently No. 10 in the world rankings, and he needs to regain the magic he found in Indian Wells two years ago to stay in the top 10.

Did you know: When Fritz reached No. 5 in the World Rankings in February of 2023, he became the first American ranked that high in 14 years since Andy Roddick accomplished the feat in 2009.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Champion (2002). Last year: Quarterfinals, lost to Jannik Sinner

Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev had an unusual year last year. He had one of the best seasons you could have without actually winning a Grand Slam. He reached the final in Indian Wells and then won in Miami, added another Masters 1000 win in the Italian Open. He made the Wimbledon semifinals, the final at the U.S. Open and the final again in January at the Australian Open. He does have one Slam title to his name (2021 U.S. Open) but has made a Grand Slam final six times. Medvedev, now 28, is officially among the elite players, but to take that next step, he'll have to find that extra notch that allows him to win when he's in position at the big events.

Did you know: Medvedev became the first person ever to lose two Grand Slam finals when leading 2 sets to 0 when he let Sinner rally to beat him in Australia in January two years after falling in the same fashion to Nadal in Australia in 2022.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Runner-up (2023). Last year: Runner-up, lost to Alcaraz

Iga Swiatek

Not a bold prediction, certainly, to guess that Swiatek will be a major player on the women's draw at the BNP Paribas Open. She was the No. 1 player in the world for 75 consecutive weeks before falling to No. 2 for eight weeks in 2023. Swiatek rebounded to end the year No. 1 and that's where she is now. Only 22, she already has four Grand Slam titles and seven Masters 1000 wins including the 2022 BNP Paribas Open. She had an uncharacteristic early exit in Australia, losing in the third round, but rebounded to win her next event, the Qatar Open. Until further notice, it's safe to pencil Swiatek in as one of the heavy favorites in any tournament she enters.

Did you know: Her 75 consecutive weeks at No. 1 was the third longest in history for a player the first time they reached No. 1. Only Steffi Graf (186) and Martina Hingis (80) had longer stretches. Her 92 total weeks at No. 1 is the 10th most in women's tennis history.

Best result in Indian Wells: Champion (2022). Last year: Semifinals, lost to Elena Rybakina

Coco Gauff

The talented young American star had been hovering around the edges of the game's elite for a few years before officially breaking through last fall with a victory at the U.S. Open. Gauff enters the BNP Paribas Open as the No. 3-ranked player in the world and is in a position to end a decades-long drought in Indian Wells for American women. No American has won the women's singles title since Serena Williams in 2001. Could this be the year Gauff ends that drought? She's had a good start to 2024, winning a title in the run-up to the Australian Open and then making it to the semifinals in Australia. Gauff, who will turn 20 during the BNP Paribas Open, has just one Masters 1000 win in her career (Cincinnati 2023) to go with her U.S. Open title, so a title in Indian Wells would be one of the biggest feathers in her tennis cap so far.

Did you know: Gauff, whose first name is Cori, is also a talented doubles player and will presumably play both at Indian Wells. In fact, in 2022, she was ranked the No. 1 women's doubles player in the world.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Quarterfinals (2023). Last year: Quarterfinals, lost to Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka, who climbed to No. 1 in the world for a brief period last year, is currently No. 2 in the world and is playing the most consistent tennis of anyone out there, particularly on the biggest stage. She has made at least the semifinals in the last six straight Grand Slam events including back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2023 and 2024. She is a power player who has an aggressive "go for it" type of game that yields a lot of winners and earlier in her career a lot of unforced errors. In recent years, though, those errors have gone away with the exception of getting the "yips" with her serve. Sabalenka simply seems to be having a lot more fun on the tennis court these days. She made the final here last year and is a favorite to be playing on the final Sunday again.

Did you know: Sabalenka is one of only eight women in history to have been ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles during their careers. To go with her two singles Grand Slam titles, Sabalenka also has two doubles Grand Slam titles with partner Elise Mertens.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Runner-up (2023). Last year: Runner-up, lost to Elena Rybakina in the final.

Elena Rybakina

Rybakina was ranked No. 10 in the world when she arrived at Indian Wells last year and had a remarkable run to the title that included wins over 2021 champion Paula Badosa, 2022 champion Swiatek and then Sabalenka in the final. She left the desert and didn't slow down. She made the final in Miami and then won another Masters 1000 in the Italian Open. The one negative of her play in the last calendar year is she has not performed well in the Slams, including a shocking second-round defeat in January at the Australian Open. She has won twice already in 2024, though, winning in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi. She had to bow out of her most recent tournament with an illness, but she will be ready to go in Indian Wells and is a candidate to pull off a rare feat, back-to-back titles. Hasn't happened in the women's draw in more than 30 years.

Did you know: When she won the Wimbledon singles title in 2022, she became the first and is still the only Khazakstani to win a tennis Grand Slam, woman or man.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Champion (2023). Last year: Champion

Venus Williams

Normally this wouldn't be the place to talk about the 484th-ranked player in the world, but if you're talking about players not to miss at this year's BNP Paribas, you have to include tennis legend Venus Williams who was given a wild card into the event. This will be her first match since being eliminated in the first round of the U.S. Open last year and her first time in the desert since 2019. The 43-year-old seven-time major champion doesn't have her fastball anymore, but she still has enough game and enough guile to prevail on a given night. And don't forget, it wasn't that long ago, 2018, when she made it to the semifinal here which is her best finish at any big event — Grand Slam or Masters 1000 — in the last six years. So when Venus hits the court on Wednesday or Thursday make sure to see her in action. You never know if it might be her last time in the desert.

Did you know: The first time she played in this tournament was in 1996 as a 15-year-old, a full 28 years ago when it was called the State Farm Evert Cup. She lost in the first round. The champion that year was Steffi Graf.

Best finish at Indian Wells: Semifinal (1998, 2001, 2018). Last year: Did not play.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Coco Gauff among players to watch