Jack Draper, Mirra Andreeva Victorious at Indian Wells

• The hard-court season is coming to an end, before players start tuning up on clay for the French Open.
• 13^th-seeded Jack Draper of the United Kingdom claimed the men’s title over 12^th-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark.
• On the women’s side, #9 Mirra Andreeva defeated top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.

While the sports world awaits March Madness, the tennis season is about to head into second gear. There has already been one Grand Slam with the Australian Open. Now, players are preparing to start the clay-court season, culminating with the French Open in May.

But we’re not leaving the hard courts yet as the BNP Paribas Open, formerly known as the Indian Wells Open, took place in California, just outside of Los Angeles. It was a tough tournament for the top seeds on both sides of the draw.

Draper Beats Rune in Straight Sets, Eight of Top Ten Gone by Quarterfinals

The men’s final featured a pair of double-digit seeds, and it didn’t take long to crown a champion. 12^th-seeded Jack Draper of the United Kingdom made short work of Denmark’s Holger Rune, the 12^th seed, in a 6-2, 6-2 victory. The win took Draper into the ATP top ten for the first time in his career, as the Englishman is now up to seventh.

Draper, who just turned 23 in December, had ten aces to just one for Rune, who also double-faulted twice. Rune also had 20 unforced errors to 16 for Draper, who rode his serve to his third ATP Tour win.

But it was a tough tournament to make your best tennis predictions if you were backing the top seeds. Eight of the top ten were eliminated by the quarterfinals, and top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany was upset in the second round by Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.

Draper took out three of the top 11 seeds himself. He defeated Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in the fourth round and quarterfinals, respectively. Draper then beat second-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.

Andreeva Takes out Sabalenka in Three Sets, Moves Up to Sixth in Rankings

On the women’s side, it was ninth-seeded Belarusian Mirra Andreeva and top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Russia. Sabalenka got out to a fast start, but Andreeva recovered and won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The 17-year-old became the youngest winner in Indian Wells since Serena Williams won here in 1999. Like Draper, Andreeva moved up to a career high in the rankings as she is now sixth on the WTA list.

The women’s draw wasn’t nearly as bad as the men’s in terms of upsets, but there were still a few. Third-seeded American Coco Gauff lost to Belinda Bencic, the Swiss player who was a wild card, in the fourth round. Fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula fell to 23^rd-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the same round. Another American, tenth-seeded Emma Navarro, went out a round earlier, losing to 19^th-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia.

But the story is Andreeva, who is building a great resume. She won the silver medal in doubles with partner, fellow Russian Diana Shnaider, at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also won the Dubai Championships in February. Keep an eye on her French Open odds as Andreeva won the silver medal on clay, and she also reached the semifinals in last year’s French Open.