World No. 1’s Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki lead a world-class field into the US$4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, a combined WTA and ATP Masters series event that begins today.
Instant replay will be available for the first time on all eight competition courts at the desert resort oasis, where Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic and Serbian Jelena Jankovic will defend their crowns.
Women’s main-draw matches begin today, while the men start tomorrow. In each case, top seeds have first-round byes, pushing the debut matches for most of the major stars to the weekend.
Nadal, a nine-time Grand Slam champion who won 2007 and 2009 Indian Wells titles, ended a five-week layoff last week in a first-round Davis Cup tie and seeks another deep run after losing to Ljubicic in last year’s semi-finals.
Nadal could join US legends Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang and Swiss world No. 2 Roger Federer as a three-time winner at Indian Wells.
Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam singles champion, comes in off a loss to third-ranked Novak Djokovic in the Dubai final and a week of workouts to prepare himself for the challenge of the US hardcourts.
Federer is 29-7 lifetime at Indian Wells and is the only player to win the event three times in a row, his title run coming from 2004 through 2006.
Djokovic, the 2008 Indian Wells champion, is on a 12-match win streak after capturing the Australian Open and Dubai titles.
The Serbian star would replace Federer as world No. 2 headed into the Miami Masters event later this month if he wins the Indian Wells title, reaches a final not against Federer or reaches the semi-finals with Federer ousted before the quarter-finals.
Sweden’s Robin Soderling has won three titles this season and risen to fourth in the rankings, just ahead of Scotsman Andy Murray, who reached the Australian Open final, but comes to Indian Wells still in search of his first Grand Slam crown.
Wozniacki, who lost to Jankovic in last year’s Indian Wells women’s final, won six titles last year and another crown last month at Dubai after losing in the Australian Open semi--finals, keeping the great Dane without a Slam crown.
Second-ranked Kim Clijsters, the 2003 and 2005 Indian Wells champion, is coming off a victory over China’s Li Na in the Australian Open final, the Belgian taking her third Grand Slam title since a 2009 return from a break to start a family.
Russian Vera Zvonareva, the world No. 3 who won at Indian Wells in 2009, is joined among the favorites by fourth-ranked Australian Samantha Stosur, fifth-ranked Italian Francesca Schiavone, sixth-ranked Jankovic and seventh-ranked Li, the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final.
“Australia is over. Now I have to start all over again,” Li said, mindful of first-match exits last year at Miami and Indian Wells.
Other top players in the fields include past Indian Wells winners Maria Sharapova of Russia and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS