#courtsiders

#courtsiders

Set in the scenic California desert in Indian Wells, with top-notch facilities, the tournament has been voted the tennis players' favorite of the year. It is often referred to as the "fifth slam" for being the biggest tournament outside the four majors. The intimate, more laid-back experience is unique, with fans able to get within shouting distance of Naomi Osaka or Aryna Sabalenka as they practice or stretch out on the idyllic grass lawn.

Madison Keys is favored at -1205 against Anna Bondar, who has odds of +650, indicating a significant difference in expected performance for this matchup.

I think she's coming back. I don't know. I haven't spoken to her, but I guess the sentiment is that she's coming back. Where and how, singles, doubles, we don't know, and if I'm in her position, I would hide it too. Yeah, everybody is excited, and it's definitely something that's very highly anticipated.

On a Wednesday in the desert last March, Reilly Opelka, the American with a cannon of a serve, was grinding out a tough match against French number one Arthur Rinderknech. Nearby, former US Open men's finalist Kei Nishikori beat Luca Nardi, part of the new wave of Italian talent, while Brazilian phenom Joao Fonseca closed out Pavel Kotov, who reached number 50 in the world in 2024.

In response, she said: Yeah, I mean, I was born in America so I'm always proud to represent my country; and yeah, a lot of us are doing really well and it's great to see a lot of, you know, great athletes on the women's side, on the men's side. So yeah, I feel like we're all doing a great job representing ourselves.

the founder and CEO of fitness technology company Whoop has found himself thrust into the center of a global controversy after his startup 's products became the unlikely breakout star of this year's Australian Open. It was not a typical viral moment. It happened after the top tennis players in the world across the women's and men's game, Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannick Sinner, were all asked by umpires to remove their Whoop fitness devices from their wrists during the middle of their matches.

The Texas Tech star (19.6 PPG, 7.5 APG, 44% from beyond the arc) is the son of a German father and recently played for Germany's 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup team. In that event, he averaged 17.3 PPG, leading the nation to a silver medal. He could be an All-American this season and represent Germany once again in the 2028 Olympic Summer Games.

Alexander Bublik, the resident eccentric of professional men's tennis, has the lyrics to two different Eminem songs tattooed on his arm. Doubles specialists, he's said, aren't "real athletes," though Bublik himself reached the doubles final of the 2021 French Open. The 28-year-old Kazakh has quoted Kung Fu Panda to cast doubt on Jannik Sinner's doping status, and called the tennis exhibited by greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal "boring."