Indian Wells 2023 Draw: Results, Player Seedings, Brackets and Twitter Reaction

Erin WalshMar 7, 2023

The first event of the Sunshine Double is finally here as the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is set to officially kick off on Wednesday with the opening round.

The hard court tournament is set to feature some of the sport's most prominent athletes in the ATP Tour's Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas and the WTA Tour's Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Ons Jabeur and CoCo Gauff.

However, men's world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will not be participating in the BNP Paribas Open after he was denied entry into the United States as he remains unvaccinated against COVID-19.

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Any air traveler entering the United States must be vaccinated against COVID-19, though that moratorium is set to expire on May 11 with the country's COVID-19 emergency declaration ending.

Djokovic requested a vaccine waiver to participate in the annual tournament at Indian Wells but was denied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He announced his withdrawal from the event on Sunday.

In addition to Djokovic, world No. 9 Rafael Nadal will not be participating in the BNP Paribas Open, nor the Miami Open, as he continues to recover from an injury suffered at the Australian Open.

The draws for both the ATP and WTA Tour's tournaments were announced Monday, so let's take a closer look at the field of competitors.

BNP Paribas Open Main Draw, ATP Tour

While the ATP Tour field lacks the star power of Djokovic and Nadal, this year's tournament is set to be exciting as Medvedev, the No. 5 seed, Tsitsipas, the No. 2 seed, Ruud, the No. 3 seed and Andrey Rublev, the No. 6 seed were all drawn in the same half.

Medvedev comes into Indian Wells as arguably the hottest player on the ATP Tour, having won his last 14 straight matches, including a 6-2, 6-2 win over Rublev in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month.

The world No. 6 has a first-round bye but will face either John Isner or Brandon Nakashima in his opening match in the round of 64 on Friday. Should he progress in the tournament, he'd be on pace to face Alexander Zverev in the fourth round.

The other half of the men's draw includes Alcaraz, who is the No. 1 seed and Taylor Fritz, the No 4 seed.

Alcaraz, who is ranked No. 2 in the world at just 19 years old, has a clear path to the finals. With a win at Indian Wells, he would return to No. 1 in the rankings as Djokovic is not participating in the tournament.

Alcaraz is set to meet either Brandon Holt or a qualifier in his opening match in the round of 64 on Friday.

ATP Tour Rankings

Novak Djokovic, Serbia
Carlos Alcaraz, Spain
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece
Casper Ruud, Norway
Taylor Fritz, United States
Daniil Medvedev, Russia
Andrey Rublev, Russia
Holger Rune, Denmark
Rafael Nadal, Spain
Felix Auger-Aliassime, Canada

For full list of rankings, visit atptour.com

BNP Paribas Open Main Draw, WTA Tour

The WTA Tour's main draw for the BNP Paribas Open features Swiatek, the No. 1 seed, Jabeur, the No. 4 seed and Caroline Garcia, the No. 5 seed, all on the same half of the bracket.

Swiatek, the defending champion at Indian Wells, is coming off a disappointing loss to Barbora Krejcikova in the Dubai finals and will be looking to get back on track in the lead-up to the French Open this spring. Prior to the loss, she had won eight straight matches.

The 21-year-old has a first-round bye in this year's BNP Paribas Open and will face either Claire Liu or Alison van Uytvanck on Sunday.

Jabeur, meanwhile, hasn't competed since suffering a loss to Marketa Vondrousova in the round of 64 at the Australian Open in January. The world No. 4 withdrew from the Middle East tournaments with an injury.

Jabeur will face Maryna Zanevska or Lauren Davis in the second round on Sunday.

The second half of the women's draw includes Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed and Maria Sakkari, the No. 7 seed.

Sabalenka comes into Indian Wells off a loss to Krejcikova in the Dubai quarterfinals. Prior to that, she had won 13 consecutive matches, including a win over Elena Rybakina in the 2023 Australian Open.

The world No. 2 will face either Alizé Cornet or Evgeniya Rodina in the second round.

Pegula, meanwhile, is the top-ranked American in this tournament despite a loss to Krejcikova in the Dubai semifinals. She's currently ranked third in the world behind Swiatek and Sabalenka.

Pegula will face Camila Giorgi or a qualifier in the second round.

WTA Tour Rankings