Indian Wells Open

The Indian Wells Open is a ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California on hard courts, played in March. Men and women compete at the same venue in the same fortnight, which is unusual outside the majors and makes it one of the few events where you can watch both tours in a single day. The main singles draw holds 128 players.

Indian Wells is played in the Californian desert, and the conditions are the story. Dry air takes pace off the ball and the cool desert evenings make it heavier still, which produces one of the slowest hard courts anywhere on the calendar.

The practical effect is that rallies stretch out and the surface behaves a little like clay. Players who defend well and construct points travel further here than their ranking suggests, while big servers who expect free points find themselves playing another two shots every time.

It is also a fortnight rather than a week, which is unusual outside the majors: the draw is larger, the top seeds get an opening bye, and there are rest days between rounds. The extra recovery favours older players who cannot back up matches day after day.

Our dates count the main draw only. Qualifying runs the week before and most calendars fold it in, which is why a start date printed elsewhere can be a week earlier than the one at the top of this page. The full draw with scores is on its own page.

The main draw holds 128 players in single elimination, which is 7 rounds to the title and 127 matches in all. Seeds are spread through the bracket so the strongest cannot meet early, and qualifiers arrive already match-sharp. How seeding, byes and qualifying work is explained in the guides.

The Indian Wells Open draw with every score is on its own page and updates while the tournament is being played.

Jannik Sinner won the men's title in 2026, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final by 7-6, 7-6. They were ranked 1 in the world at the time of writing.

Aryna Sabalenka won the women's title in 2026, beating Elena Rybakina in the final by 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. They were ranked 1 in the world at the time of writing.

A title here does not only change the trophy cabinet. It sets the number the same player has to defend twelve months later, and defending is the hardest thing in tennis: the points disappear on schedule whether or not the player is fit, in form or even entered.

8 of the 8 quarter-finalists in the men's draw were seeded, which is close to what the seedings predicted. Jannik Sinner took the title from the number 2 seeding, and the final went 2 sets.

8 of the 8 quarter-finalists in the women's draw were seeded, which is close to what the seedings predicted. Aryna Sabalenka took the title from the number 1 seeding, and the final went 3 sets.

Numbers like these are the quickest way to read a tournament you did not watch. A draw where most of the seeds survive to the last eight was decided on quality; one where they did not was decided by conditions, scheduling or fatigue, and the surface section above usually explains which.

Rights to the Indian Wells Open are sold country by country, so the answer depends entirely on where you are sitting. There is no free-to-air option for this event in the major markets, which is normal below Grand Slam level.

The Indian Wells Open is played in Indian Wells, California, and matches follow the local schedule, so check the order of play against your own time zone before committing an evening to it.

There is no free-to-air route to this one in the major markets. That is typical below Grand Slam level: the free coverage in tennis is concentrated on the four majors, and only in the countries that host them or have a historic public-broadcast deal.

Indian Wells runs for two weeks with rest days, so the load is lighter than a Grand Slam and the schedule is easier to follow. Stadium 1 gets full coverage and several of the outer stadiums are streamed, which is unusually generous for a tournament at this level. The desert time zone is the problem for everyone else: play starts at 11am Pacific, which is 7pm in London and 4am in Sydney.

The viewing guide goes through what each service covers across the season and what it leaves out.