Jannik Sinner reunites with Reilly Opelka for doubles at Indian Wells

Jannik Sinner will once again compete in a doubles draw at the upcoming Indian Wells, after announcing that he will pair with American Reilly Opelka, renewing a partnership we have already seen a couple of times on the tour. The world No. 2 will look to gain confidence and victories in the doubles draw, a surprise for someone who normally avoids overloading himself physically.

It is not usual to see Sinner playing doubles, although he has done so a few times, normally looking to add match rhythm – though probably without high ambitions in terms of performance.

Sinner’s last doubles appearance was at the Terra Wortmann Open, where he teamed up with Lorenzo Sonego, falling in the first round to Michelsen/Kachanov, which was his only doubles match on the Tour throughout the season. At last year’s US Open, he had registered for mixed doubles with the female doubles No. 1 at that moment, Katerina Siniakova. However, they withdrew at the last minute.

The Italian had previously joined Opelka with considerable success back at the Atlanta Open 2021, where they ended up winning the tournament, defeating Steve Johnson and Jordan Thompson in the final. To date, this remains the only doubles title won by both Sinner and Opelka. The pair reunited at the Miami Open 2022, but retired before their debut match.

It is striking to see Opelka playing doubles again, a player who several times has criticized doubles specialists. A year ago, the American was strongly critical of the category and even opined that it should be eliminated: "They should get rid of doubles 100%. It's for the singles players who failed," said the former world No. 17. "They don't sell tickets, they take up practice courts, physios, and resources. They don't make a profit, yet they complain they don’t earn enough money. That's pretty greedy behaviour, if you ask me."

Since his comments in February 2025, Opelka has still been seen in some doubles tournaments. At the Madrid Open, he registered with Tommy Paul, although they withdrew at the last moment. Later, on the grass-court swing, he teamed up with Ben Shelton at the HSBC Championships, while at the US Open he played mixed doubles with Venus Williams.

The Italian, however, places his priority on the ATP 500 Qatar Open, where he will return to the courts for his first tournament since the Austrian Open – where he was surprisingly eliminated in the semifinals by Novak Djokovic.

Sinner will be the second seed and begins a stage of the season in which the focus will be on accumulating points that allow him to regain world No. 1. Over the next nearly three months, he has no points to defend – including four Masters 1000 events in that interval. Currently sitting just under 3,000 points behind Alcaraz, Sinner has a great opportunity to reinstall himself at the top if he achieves good results, considering that Alcaraz is defending a significant number of points in the coming weeks.

Sinner will debut against a familiar opponent, the Czech Tomas Machac, in the first round – a complicated duel against Machac, who less than a month ago won the Adelaide International. Sinner and Machac have two previous meetings, both victories for Sinner in straight sets back at the 2024 Miami Open and Shanghai Masters – two tournaments where Sinner ended up lifting the trophy.

Meanwhile, Opelka on this occasion will only participate in the doubles draw, while he seeks to return to his best form after injuries at the start of the season.