Tennis returns to the desert – live on Sky Sports Tennis – with the first combined WTA and ATP 1000 event of the year at the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells.

The tournament kicked off with the qualifying stages on Sunday March 2, with the main draw action commencing on Wednesday March 5. It all ends on Sunday March 16 when both the men’s and women’s singles finals will take place.

Will Emma Raducanu play?

Yes! Emma Raducanu’s ranking has earned her direct entry into the main draw after she required a wildcard to play the first two WTA 1000 events of the year in Doha and Dubai.

She is expected to be offered enhanced security in Indian Wells after she was the target of “fixated behaviour” from a man during the Dubai Championships last week.

The 22-year-old will play Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima on opening Wednesday and will face Coco Gauff if she progresses to the next round.

Raducanu will be joined in the main draw by British No 1 Katie Boulter, who automatically goes straight to the second round as she’s seeded.

Sonay Kartal defeated Marina Stakusic 6-2 6-2 to book her place into the final qualifying round, but she couldn’t make the main draw after losing to Clervie Ngounoue 3-6 7-5 7-5.

Jack Draper will headline British interest in the men’s event and he gets a bye for the first round,

2021 Indian Wells champion Cameron Norrie goes up against Italy’s Luca Nardi and Jacob Fearnley has a tough test against young Brazilian Joao Fonseca.

When can I watch matches?

Day session matches are set to start at 7pm UK time (11am local time), with night sessions getting underway at 2am (6pm local time) – with all the action live on Sky Sports Tennis.

Djokovic to play at Indian Wells with Murray also returning

Novak Djokovic will play at the ATP 1000-level tournament, as the Serbian resumes his hunt for a 100th singles title.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner retired from his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring issue last month and lost in the Qatar Open first round last week.

The 37-year-old said that he “played without pain” in Doha but his disappointing display raised concerns among fans that he would not play in the Southern California event.

“A legend returns to the desert,” the tournament wrote on X, quieting concerns about whether he would play.

Djokovic will play Nick Kyrgios in the second round, if the latter comes through his first match, with Carlos Alcaraz in line to face the 24-time Grand Slam champion in the quarter-finals.

Five-time Indian Wells winner Djokovic will aim to become the third man to claim 100 singles titles in the professional era, behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).

Djokovic is expected to be joined in Indian Wells by coach Andy Murray, with the partnership set to continue “indefinitely”.

Speaking in her monthly column for Sky Sports, Laura Robson said she was encouraged by the news. “Andy Murray continuing with Novak Djokovic is really positive. Andy has four young kids and probably doesn’t want to do all of these weeks on the road now that he’s just stopped playing, so I’m sure that after the Australian Open, it just took them a minute to figure out their schedules,” she wrote.

“I think it was a case of picking and choosing which tournaments they partner up at, and it sounds like he’s going to be at Indian Wells and Miami coming up in March.”

Is world No 1 Sinner playing? Who are the defending champions?

Jannik Sinner will miss Indian Wells after accepting a three-month ban in a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Carlos Alcaraz is the two-time reigning Indian Wells champion, having downed Daniil Medvedev in the final of the last two editions, while Alexander Zverev will be the top seed on the men’s side.

Iga Swiatek is the reigning women’s champion, while world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Australian Open winner Madison Keys will aim to topple the Pole.

Which players have received wild cards?

Joao Fonseca, an 18-year-old Brazilian prodigy who recently won his maiden ATP title at the Argentina Open, and Learner Tien, a 19-year-old who made a stunning run to the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open as a qualifier and is one of the brightest young American prospects, received wild cards.

Legendary seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will not play after declining her wild card.

Williams, who has reached the semi-finals on three occasions in Indian Wells, had boycotted the tournament between 2002 and 2016 after her sister Serena was booed by the crowd in the 2001 final, with the family also saying they were subjected to racist abuse.

Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova was also awarded a wildcard. The Czech will be returning to action after the birth of her first child, son Petr, last July.

Why is the Indian Wells, Miami double so tough?

“The ‘sunshine double’ of Indian Wells and Miami is very tough for any player to pull off because it’s totally opposite conditions – even though it’s two hard-court tournaments,” said former British No 1 Robson.

“It’s a really long stint – both events are 12 days – and it’s just a massive change conditions-wise, to go from one to the other as Miami is so hot and humid, compared to being in the desert of Palm Springs.

“Indian Wells, in particular, I always struggled at because it’s much slower than you think. It doesn’t always favour the Brits, who in general prefer slightly faster conditions and a pacier hard court that plays more lively, because you get a bit more out of your shots.”

Where is Indian Wells?

Indian Wells Tennis Garden is located near Palm Springs, California, in the Coachella Valley.

Alongside its 16,100-capacity centre court – the second largest tennis-specific stadium in the world – the complex also boasts 29 hard-courts.

Oracle co-founder and CEO Larry Ellison assumed full ownership of Indian Wells in 2009 for a whopping $100m. The tech billionaire is the world’s fourth richest man, worth an estimated £165bn.

Celebs to keep an eye out for at Indian Wells

Expect a star-studded field on and off the court, with film stars including Zendaya, Tom Holland, Charlize Theron, Yvonne Orji, Ben Stiller and singer Gwen Stefani.

Stiller became the unwitting support act when Nick Kyrgios clashed with a fan at the event in 2022.

Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports in 2025 or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.