Djokovic, Rublev, Zverev: The big stars who said goodbye early at Indian Wells 2025

After three days of competition in this new edition of Indian Wells, if there is something that has become clear is that it is the tournament where some giants have been falling. Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud were eliminated in their debut at the Californian tournament. Will we have more surprises?

The Indian Wells 2025 tournament has claimed a lot of big-name victims in its early rounds. Between injuries, surprising performances from their opponents and playing well below their level, Djokovic, Zverev and company were a huge disappointment at the Fifth Slam.

The controversial Nick arrived at Indian Wells after withdrawing in his debut at the Australian Open. In California he would run into Lucky Loser Botic Van de Zandschulp in the first round, a name that will come up again later on. The former Wimbledon finalist suffered a wrist injury and had to withdraw from the match at 6-7 and 0-3.

The world number 2 had a poor tour of Latin America, showing a level far from the one that took him to the final in Melbourne. Indian Wells looked like an excellent opportunity to get back to winning ways and take points off the number 1. None of that would end up happening, as on Friday afternoon Tallon Griekspoor played his best tennis and eliminated the German in one of those great matches that sometimes happen in the first round by 4-6, 7-6(5) and 7-6(4).

The Norwegian, number 6 of the ATP, would be the first top ten player to fall on Saturday. Ruud has been showing irregularities in his game for some time now. After withdrawing from the Mexican Open due to intoxication, the former number 2 was surprised by the local Marcos Giron, who defeated him 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2.

Russian Andrey Rublev, world No. 8, was defeated by Matteo Arnaldi (No. 35) with virtually no resistance. Rublev, Dubai Tournament champion, came to Indian Wells with renewed confidence, but he was very uncomfortable on the court, making many mistakes. The final result was 6-4 and 7-5 in favor of the Italian.

The tournament's top champion, Novak Djokovic, returned to the competition after retiring in the semifinal of the Australian Open against Zverev. The Serb, currently ranked No. 7, would meet the aforementioned Botic Van de Zandschulp (No. 85). The Dutchman, who gives an image of total abstraction during the match, took advantage of a Djokovic who played well below his level. Van de Zandschulp in turn was a wall, returning everything the former No. 1 threw at him. The Dutchman would take the victory 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, marking the second time in a row that Nole has had to leave Indian Wells on debut.