Medvedev & Tien headline star-studded Indian Wells doubles field
There will be plenty of elite singles firepower in the doubles draw at next month’s BNP Paribas Open, with teams accepted into the draw including Daniil Medvedev and Learner Tien, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Sebastian Korda, and Alex de Minaur and John Peers.
Medvedev and Tien is an eye-catching duo, given their budding Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry (Tien leads 3-1). The American shed light on their partnership Thursday at the Delray Beach Open.
“I think his coach texted my coach last minute, maybe the day before the deadline. I said, ‘Sure’, I thought it would be fun and so I’m looking forward to it,” Tien said. “It was kind of random, because I don’t think he plays that much doubles and neither do I, so I think we’ll just go out and have fun.”
Six of the Top 10 players in the PIF ATP Rankings have entered the doubles field at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner and the big-serving American Reilly Opelka are currently alternates, and will need a wild card to enter the draw because their combined ranking of 71 was not high enough to make the cut.
Sinner holds a 26-25 tour-level doubles record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 24-year-old Italian lifted his only ATP Tour doubles trophy so far with Opelka in Atlanta in 2021.
[NO 1 CLUB]Alexander Zverev and good friend Marcelo Melo, his regular doubles partner, are also alternates. The pair reached a Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo in 2024. Ben Shelton and fellow American Emilio Nava will also require a wild card.
Regular doubles pairings that will headline the field in Indian Wells include Australian Open champions Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool and defending champions Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
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