PREVIEW WTA Indian Wells Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff all set for battle in the desert

The 2025 Indian Wells Open is upon us with the draw now set for the tournament which is led by Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Elena Rybakina between March 5-16. Our preview looks ahead to the tournament starting on Wednesday.

Iga Swiatek is defending champion having seen off Maria Sakkari last year who went through a renaissance of sorts during the Sunshine Double before falling away. The last modicum of success that Swiatek had was winning Roland Garros and she has been barren since then including her faithful Qatar.

So it is very much the opportunity that she will hopefully crave to get back on form and on song. She has had good runs as of late without completely dazzling. But WTA tennis sits at a weird time as most of the top names aren't in form.

Since the Australian Open, Sabalenka has admitted that she is fairly disillusioned with the sport and her performances have shown that. After such heartbreak against Madison Keys it is fairly easy to see why. She lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in Qatar and then Clara Tauson in Dubai.

Both players are very much hungry for success right now while Sabalenka on the other hand has shown that if she slips in the motivation stakes, it is one that the others will pick up on especially those on form. She can't get away with a C game right now and Tauson in particular showed that as she was easily beaten.

It won't get easier at Indian Wells either as she faces either McCartney Kessler who albeit was well beaten in Austin reached the final losing to Jessica Pegula. Or if not it will be a certain Anna Blinkova known as a bit of a spoiler.

But most of the current top five are not in form. Coco Gauff ironically lost to Kessler in Dubai and priorly was defeated by a familiar foe in Marta Kostyuk in Qatar. She has not won a match since losing to Paula Badosa at the Australian Open in the Quarter-Finals.

Jessica Pegula is probably the only player who can lay a claim to any top form right now which is why the WTA is perhaps the best of the two in terms of adding mystery.

She won Austin last week and in doing so cemented World Number Four further ahead of Madison Keys who is a mystery all of her own as she has not played since the Australian Open so where she currently is remains a bit of a question mark. Elena Rybakina has been in good form but also has been dealing with off court issues.

She of course has been embroiled in the whole Stefano Vukov situation with the coach banned from the sport for a year as harrowing details were confirmed in the aftermath. Still able to produce wins though in comparison to others, she sits as one of the few who can hold their head high ahead of Indian Wells.

A tournament she has previously won two years ago. The same can be said for Paula Badosa who looked to be kickstarting herself further into form and with most of the top 10 not in any form at all, it looked likely that she would ascend further. But whether she is 100% after her back reoccurrence in Mexico remains to be seen. If serious it essentially puts her career in doubt with Badosa a year and a half ago needing injections to even continue her career.

Emma Navarro who sits just above in eighth having retaken her spot in the rankings has caught light again winning the biggest title of her career in Mexico. While Zheng Qinwen who kind of took her mantle as the hottest new property on the WTA circuit with her end of year prowess has very much stalled. She has Pere Riba back though in her corner for this tournament. Something which no doubt affected her at the Australian Open and in the Middle East. The true effect of Riba will be shown in the coming weeks.

Also in the Middle East, two players added credence to the uncertainty that sits at the top of tennis with Mirra Andreeva perhaps being an expected quantity. She won in Dubai to claim the biggest title of her career so far in what has been a long time coming.

No doubt given the lack of form of the big names she will be one of the main protagonists in the desert over the next fortnight. As will Amanda Anisimova as both a home hope and also a new title winner.

The best of the players who returned to the sport after an absence last year, she reached the final in Canada but didn't do much after until now. A player that comes in fits and starts but showed in Doha that she is very much one to be feared.

While the top players look for something, these two are very much dark horses for the next two weeks.

Onto actual top ties to watch from the maze of Indian Wells as Naomi Osaka will take on Camila Osorio. A rematch with Clara Tauson could then await.

Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin face off in a a battle of faded Grand Slam champions. The winner could face Daria Kasatkina. Of course Emma Raducanu vs Moyuka Uchijima. The winner faces Coco Gauff.

Alycia Parks takes on an ailing Anna Kalinskaya with the winner facing Diana Shnaider. While a returning Petra Kvitova could go straight into the lions den against Mirra Andreeva if she gets past Varvara Gracheva early. Other round two ties include Victoria Azarenka facing Qinwen Zheng, Iga Swiatek against Caroline Garcia and the aforementioned Amanda Anisimova facing Belinda Bencic.

Tennis Paradise awaits but the winner especially on a WTA angle is very much as open book as ever.