Tennis players flee court after UAE drone attack
Players and officials had to run from the court at an ATP Challenger event in the UAE when a fire broke out at a nearby oil terminal following an Iranian drone attack.
Players and officials had to run from the court at an ATP Challenger event in the UAE when a fire broke out at a nearby oil terminal following an Iranian drone attack.
Carlos Alcaraz is chasing his third BNP Paribas Open title in Indian Wells. Read all about the World No. 1’s results, records, statistics, and more, here.
Since making his Indian Wells debut in 2021, Alcaraz has tallied a 20-3 win-loss record at the tournament.
Alcaraz lifted the trophy at Indian Wells in 2023 and 2024.
Alcaraz lost 1-6, 6-0, 4-6 to Jack Draper in the Indian Wells semi-finals in 2025 (Read more).
Alcaraz has won two Indian Wells titles.
| Year Won | Final Opponent |
| 2023 | Daniil Medvedev |
| 2024 | Daniil Medvedev |
| Tournament | Result |
| Qatar ExxonMobil Open (Doha) | Champion, def. Arthur Fils |
| Australian Open | Champion, def. Novak Djokovic |
| Nitto ATP Finals | F, l. to Jannik Sinner |
| Rolex Paris Masters | R32, l. to Cameron Norrie |
| Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo) | Champion, def. Taylor Fritz |
Alcaraz holds a 154-42 win-loss record on hard courts, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, for a winning percentage of 78.6 per cent. He ranks third among active players in winning percentage on hard courts.
Alcaraz begins his Indian Wells campaign against Terence Atmane or Grigor Dimitrov and could face Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Botic van de Zandschulp or Arthur Rinderknech in the third round. He will meet Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals if both reach that stage.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic owns a joint-record five titles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Read all about the Serbian’s results, records, statistics, and more, here.
Since making his Indian Wells debut in 2005, Djokovic has tallied a 51-11 win-loss record at the tournament, including a joint-record five titles alongside Roger Federer.
Djokovic won Indian Wells in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 & 2016.
Djokovic lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round in Indian Wells in 2025. Van de Zandschulp triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 (Read more).
Djokovic has won a joint-record five Indian Wells titles.
| Year Won | Final Opponent |
| 2008 | Mardy Fish |
| 2011 | Rafael Nadal |
| 2014 | Roger Federer |
| 2015 | Roger Federer |
| 2016 | Milos Raonic |
| Tournament | Result |
| Australian Open | F, l. to Carlos Alcaraz |
| Vanda Pharmaceuticals Hellenic Championship (Athens) | Champion, def. Lorenzo Musetti |
| Rolex Shanghai Masters | SF, l. to Valentin Vacherot |
| US Open | SF, l. to Carlos Alcaraz |
| Wimbledon | SF, l. to Jannik Sinner |
Djokovic holds a 739-137 win-loss record on hard courts, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, for a winning percentage of 84.4 per cent. He ranks first among active players in winning percentage on hard courts.
Djokovic opens his Indian Wells campaign against Kamil Majchrzak or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and could face Corentin Moutet, Hubert Hurkacz or Aleksandar Kovacevic in the third round. He will meet World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals if both reach that stage.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic has made the most of his time in California before the start of the BNP Paribas Open.
The man who has spent a record 428 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings in his career took the time to spread his knowledge to the next generation, although in a different sport. Djokovic spoke to the UCLA football team before traveling to Indian Wells.
“It’s [about] right now,” Djokovic told the group. “This is the time because 10 per cent of life happens to us and 90 per cent of life is how we react to what happens to us.”
The five-time Indian Wells champion also explained to the football players that he misses the team spirit as an individual athlete.
“Seeing you guys, how much you enjoy supporting each other, lifting each other up and bringing that spirit up,” Djokovic said. “It’s only going to serve you as a team, you individually, [your] coach and the whole community and of course the college that you’re a part of.”
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Djokovic, a longtime basketball fan, also took the time to sit courtside at a Los Angeles Lakers game, snapping a quick photo with LeBron James and Luka Doncic. During his post-game press conference, Doncic shared the highest praise for the ATP No. 1 Club member.
“For me he’s the GOAT,” Doncic said. “For him being here watching me, it’s just unbelievable.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jannik Sinner is a two-time semi-finalist at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Read all about the Italian’s results, records, statistics, and more, here.
Since making his Indian Wells debut in 2021, Sinner has tallied an 11-3 win-loss record at the tournament, including consecutive semi-final runs in 2023-24.
Sinner reached back-to-back Indian Wells semi-finals in 2023-24, losing to Carlos Alcaraz on both occasions.
Sinner lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semi-finals in 2024, which was the Italian’s most recent appearance at the event. Alcaraz triumphed 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 (Read more).
Sinner has won five ATP Masters 1000 titles.
| Tournament Won | Final Opponent |
| 2023 Toronto | Alex de Minaur |
| 2024 Miami | Grigor Dimitrov |
| 2024 Cincinnati | Frances Tiafoe |
| 2024 Shanghai | Novak Djokovic |
| 2025 Paris | Felix Auger-Aliassime |
| Tournament | Result |
| Qatar ExxonMobil Open (Doha) | QF, l. to Jakub Mensik |
| Australian Open | SF, l. to Novak Djokovic |
| Nitto ATP Finals | Champion, def. Carlos Alcaraz |
| Rolex Paris Masters | Champion, def. Felix Auger-Aliassime |
| Erste Bank Open (Vienna) | Champion, def. Alexander Zverev |
Sinner holds a 234-54 win-loss record on hard courts, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, for a winning percentage of 81.3 per cent. He ranks second among active players in winning percentage on hard courts.
Sinner opens his Indian Wells campaign against James Duckworth or a qualifier and could face Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Denis Shapovalov or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round. He will meet Ben Shelton if both men reach the quarter-finals.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]No matter who top seed Carlos Alcaraz faces in his opening match of the BNP Paribas Open, the Spaniard will face a tricky test.
The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will open the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 event against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov or surging lefty Terence Atmane, with five-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic also looming in his half of the draw.
View the full Indian Wells singles draw
Alcaraz played Dimitrov in the California desert last year, losing just two games to the Bulgarian in the fourth round. But Dimitrov has shown comfort at Indian Wells, reaching the semi-finals in 2021 and the quarter-finals in 2022.
Atmane will be making his main draw debut at Indian Wells after previously competing in qualifying. The Frenchman broke through last year in Cincinnati with a dream run to the semi-finals and is at a career-high No. 52 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The 24-year-old has split two previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Dimitrov, including a straight-sets victory last week in Acapulco.
“It’s amazing. I’ll have hopefully two very good matches going on. We’re going to stay focused on the first one,” Atmane said. “It’s always fun. We played with Grigor last week, so we play again. It’s very funny. The winner of one of us is going to be able to play Carlitos. It’s going to be very much up [in the air] for both of us, so it’s going to be very interesting.”
Djokovic, who is tied with Roger Federer for the most titles in tournament history (5), will play Kamil Majchrzak or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his first match since the Australian Open final. The Serbian suffered a stunning opening defeat here to Botic van de Zandschulp last year and will try to make a good start on his chase to a 102nd tour-level title.
Seventh seed Taylor Fritz, the 2022 Indian Wells champion, is also in Djokovic’s quarter of the draw. The top-ranked American opens against Damir Dzumhur or Jacob Fearnley.
Second seed Jannik Sinner is chasing his first title in the desert and is in the same quarter as eighth seed Ben Shelton, who brings momentum to California after winning the Dallas title. Sinner takes on James Duckworth or a qualifier in the second round.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]From the dry desert conditions of Indian Wells to the sticky humidity of Miami, the Sunshine Double is a challenge that few have managed to conquer with both trophies in tow.
Just seven men have swept both the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open presented by Itau in the same season, a list dominated by former World No. 1s.
Novak Djokovic has reigned victorious across the Sunshine Double a record four times, while Roger Federer accomplished it three times. The Swiss is the most recent player to achieve the feat, having done so in 2017.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev, three of the 29 members in the ATP No. 1 Club, are among those who will soon begin their quest of joining the exclusive list of those to triumph in Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.
| Players to win ‘Sunshine Double’ | Year(s) |
| Jim Courier | 1991 |
| Michael Chang | 1992 |
| Pete Sampras | 1994 |
| Marcelo Rios | 1998 |
| Andre Agassi | 2001 |
| Roger Federer | 2005, 2006, 2017 |
| Novak Djokovic | 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 |
*ATP No. 1 Club members highlighted in bold
Jim Courier was the first to win the Sunshine Double in 1991 at the age of 20. The American began Indian Wells as the No. 26 player in the PIF ATP Rankings before going on a career-defining run, not only in California and south Florida, but the rest of the season.
Courier, who needed a fifth-set tie-break to win a three-hour, 30-minute Indian Wells final against Frenchman Guy Forget, would claim his first major title at Roland Garros that year. Using his devastating inside-out forehand to great effect, Courier also reached the US Open final, helping his ascension to World No. 1 for the first time in 1992.
Courier’s countryman Pete Sampras followed suit across the Sunshine Double in 1994. Sampras was No. 1 at the time, but arrived in Indian Wells still searching to find his groove at the tournament, having won seven matches across his first five appearances. He turned that around in emphatic fashion in ‘94, winning a five-set Indian Wells final before successfully defending his Miami crown two weeks later.
The 1994 Miami final, one of 34 Lexus ATP Head2Head duels between Sampras and Andre Agassi, is often remembered for Agassi’s sportsmanship. After learning that Sampras was ill with a stomach problem, Agassi agreed to delay the championship match until the following day, allowing his rival more time to recover from his sickness. “If I couldn’t beat Pete healthy, I didn’t deserve to win the tournament,” Agassi said at the time, according to The New York Times.
In 1998, Chilean Marcelo Rios won the Sunshine Double to secure his rise to World No. 1. Rios began that season as the No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, but in just three months, he surged to the top. Rios dropped just one set in Indian Wells — a dramatic second-set tie-break in the final against Greg Rusedski that the Briton won 17/15, testifying how much it took to claim a single set off the Chilean during his Sunshine Double run.
For Rios, a double prize was then on the line in Miami. He would become World No. 1 if he won the title. The third seed did just that, defeating Agassi in the championship match.
Agassi would enjoy his moment in the Sunshine Double spotlight three years later in 2001. The American downed three Top 10 players across both tournaments, including a straight-sets victory against great rival Sampras in the Indian Wells final.
[NO 1 CLUB]Then came Federer and Djokovic, the only players to complete the Sunshine Double on more than one occasion. In 2005, Federer’s hopes of achieving the feat for the first time were hanging by a thread. The Swiss miraculously came back from two sets to love down in the Miami final to escape none other than Rafael Nadal. That dramatic Federer-Nadal final was a year removed from their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, coincidentally at the same venue. The rivals would go on to face each other 40 times in their illustrious careers.
In 2006, Federer operated on a different plane. Across the Sunshine Double, the Swiss dropped two sets in 12 matches, a snapshot of Federer’s start to the year. Federer lost one match during the first three months of 2006.
Staying with dominant streaks, Djokovic’s 2011 run stands among the greatest. The Serbian won his first 41 matches of the 2011 season, including triumphs in Indian Wells and Miami. Djokovic downed rivals Federer and Nadal in the Indian Wells semi-finals and final, respectively, and would again defeat the Spaniard in the Miami title match.
Djokovic turned the Sunshine Double into his domain from 2014-16. He completed a hat-trick, leaving both events with the trophy for three consecutive years. In 2016, the Belgrade native, who boasts a record 428 weeks spent at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, ousted four Top 10 players across both tournaments.
From Courier’s breakthrough in 1991 to Djokovic’s record-setting dominance, the Sunshine Double has remained a rare proving ground: Win both Indian Wells and Miami, and you are bound for legendary status.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Lindsay Davenport won the Indian Wells singles title in 1997 and 2000, well before her son, Jagger Leach, was born. Now it is Leach who has a chance to shine at the BNP Paribas Open.
The 18-year-old, a freshman at Stanford University, is competing in an ATP Tour qualifying event for the first time at the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 event. It is a fitting venue considering the Californian has spent nearly every March of his life at Indian Wells, from the days following around his mother, who coached Madison Keys, to competing in a junior tournament at the same location.
“Some of my best memories are from when I was seven years old and I was running around and I was trying to find open practice courts with my dad,” Leach said of his father, former pro Jonathan Leach. “When my mom was coaching Madison, we could go over to the practice courts, and if she finished her practice seven minutes early, then my dad and I would jump on and hit for those seven minutes, and then we would walk around.
“If we saw another pro finish 10 minutes before their practice time was up, then we would try and go hit for those 10 minutes and we were just scavenging around. And that was a lot of fun. I have great memories from that.”
Leach has images at Indian Wells from before he was a teen: on court, in player dining with Keys and around the grounds. This tournament was a major part of his childhood.
“When I was young, I had access to the pro player lounge area where they have the Pop-A-Shot games,” Leach said. “I would hang out there and eat lunch and play Pop-A-Shot and just be around. It was an incredible experience. The dining there, I thought it was amazing.”
<img alt=”Jagger Leach and Madison Keys” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/03/02/17/10/leach-keys-indian-wells.jpg” />
The American climbed as high as No. 4 in the ITF Junior Rankings and was a junior qualifier for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator. But for now, Leach has been focused on playing college tennis at Stanford. On Sunday, the Cardinal defeated Duke in North Carolina and Leach then flew to California for the biggest opportunity of his young tennis journey.
“The experience has been incredible. I love my teammates and my coaches here at Stanford. I love the campus and the campus life. And really, one thing that has been incredible among a lot of things, has been being a part of a team. That has been the most unbelievable experience,” Leach said. “Usually in tennis, you’re alone out there on the court. And when you’re going to tournaments and travelling around, you might have friends and people that you enjoy spending time around, but at the end of the day, they’re your competitors and nobody is really cheering and rooting you on and wants you to succeed.
“I think one thing about being a part of a college team is, I have nine other players that really want me to succeed and are pushing me every day to try and get better.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Leach, a wild card, will have plenty of local support Monday evening when he takes on 14th seed Tomas Barrios Vera in the first round of qualifying. The young American has been around high-level tennis his entire life, but this is different.
“It’s super cool. And it’s an incredible experience that I’m going to cherish and hopefully I can keep improving, and I can get to the place where I’m back playing these tournaments and it’s not so intimidating and I’m so starstruck,” Leach said. “That’s the ultimate goal. But for right now it’s intimidating. It’s super cool. They seem like superheroes. Sinner and Alcaraz, their tennis is just on a different planet. And so thankfully, I don’t have to worry about them in the qualies, but being around them and being in the same locker room and knowing that I’m going to be playing in the same tournament, it feels surreal.
“It would be incredible to have the chance to play against one of them some day.”
The first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season begins on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and defending champion Jack Draper are among the stars that will headline the tournament.
The 50th edition of the tour-level event will be broadcast worldwide and you can view how to watch the tournament in your region here.
The hard-court event was won in 2025 by first-time Masters 1000 champion Draper, who defeated Holger Rune in the championship match. Draper returned from a left arm injury last week in Dubai, where he reached the second round.
The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Alcaraz has triumphed in Indian Wells in 2024 and 2023 and arrives in the Californian desert holding a perfect 12-0 record on the year, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open and then won his 13th ATP 500 title in Doha.
Second seed Jannik Sinner has won all five of the other hard-court Masters 1000 trophies but is yet to reign in Indian Wells. The second-seeded Italian, who is a two-time semi-finalist in California, will find out his opening-round opponent during the draw on Monday at 3 p.m. local time.
On home soil, Taylor Fritz will look to recapture the title he won in 2022, the most recent triumph by an American man at the tournament. Djokovic, a five-time champion in the desert, is tied with Roger Federer for the record for most titles at the event, though the Serbian has not lifted the trophy since 2016.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Flavio Cobolli, Daniil Medvedev and Luciano Darderi won titles during a three-tournament week on the ATP Tour. ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week as of Monday 2 March.
[NO 1 CLUB]No. 15 Flavio Cobolli, +5 (Career High)
Cobolli has climbed five spots to a career high in the PIF ATP Rankings after he won his first hard-court tour-level title and third overall at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco. The Italian lost just one set en route to becoming the fourth man born in the 2000s to win ATP 500 trophies on multiple surfaces, a feat also achieved by Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Arthur Fils.
No. 22 Frances Tiafoe, +6
The American has moved closer to the Top 20 after he advanced to the championship match in Acapulco. It was the first time Tiafoe had reached a tour-level final since Houston last April.
No. 58 Miomir Kecmanovic, +26
Staying in Mexico and Serbia’s Kecmanovic was another player to have enjoyed an impressive run at the ATP 500. The 26-year-old upset top seed Alexander Zverev in the second round in Acapulco en route to his first semi-final of the season. Kecmanovic is level at 2-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Zverev.
No. 65 Yannick Hanfmann +16
Hanfmann reached his first ATP Tour final in six years at the BCI Seguros Chile Open in Santiago. The German shocked top seed Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals but lost to Luciano Darderi in the championship match at the ATP 250.
Mattia Bellucci No. 94, +16
Bellucci has returned to the Top 100 following a quarter-final showing in Acapulco. The Italian defeated Rinky Hijikata and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Mexico. It is Bellucci’s best result since he reached the semi-finals in Rotterdam in February 2025.
Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 8 Ben Shelton, +1
No. 41 Jenson Brooksby, +8
No. 52 Terence Atmane, +11 (Career High)
No. 92 Stan Wawrinka, +7
[NEWSLETTER FORM]