2025 BNP Paribas Open: Up-and-Coming Stars Shine in Tennis Paradise

The game’s rising talent blossomed during the “Fifth Slam,” held from March 2-16.

This year, 504,268 tennis fans gathered together at Indian Wells Tennis Garden to witness the BNP Paribas Open firsthand.

While helping to break the tournament’s all-time attendance record, every fan knew they observed something very special during the last two weeks: the potential beginning of tennis’s next chapter.

First off, the men’s singles final featured two players aged 23 or under for the first time since 2009. Secondly, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva became the youngest BNP Paribas Open singles female champion since 1999.

It was a magical week, a week that possibly provided fans a preview of what’s to come. “Tennis Paradise” (Indian Wells Tennis Garden’s nickname) offered exactly that yet again—from the Garden’s pristine beauty, to the historical, thrilling, awe-inspiring matches that occurred for two weeks.

Here is a look back at the magic that transpired, which may very well set the tone for the rest of 2025.

Draper Shocks the Tennis World

There were certainly signs that 23-year-old Jack Draper was on the verge of a career-defining moment. Prior to his victory at the BNP Paribas Open, he had won two ATP Tour titles and risen to No. 14 in the PIF ATP Rankings. In addition, he reached the 2024 US Open’s semifinals.

But few people expected him to defeat two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6 and 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open’s semifinals. Nor did they predict he’d win the finals so effortlessly, while accumulating a 6-2, 6-2 record against 21-year-old Holger Rune in 69 minutes—the BNP Paribas Open’s fastest men’s singles final in at least 10 years.

However, Draper knew what he was capable of. He fully understood what he had overcome to be in a position to win. And, above all else, he believed he could triumph.

“I’ve put in a lot of work over time,” he said in reflection. “I’m so grateful to be able to play, my body feeling healthy, to feel great in the mind.”

After overcoming various injuries in 2023, Draper struggled to explain what the victory meant to him, and for good reason. First, he’s only the 11th lefty to win the BNP Paribas Open’s men’s singles title. Second, he’s just the fifth British male to claim an ATP Tour title victory. Finally, he’s the second-youngest British male to reach the world rankings’ top 10.

“The amount of adversity I’ve been through…it’s an emotional feeling to know how much you’ve gone through, and to say I’m going to be No. 7 in the world,” he emphasized. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

A Teenage Sensation

Some could argue it was a David versus Goliath situation. 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva was set to compete against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. How could a less experienced player possibly defeat such an established one?

Yet, upon further observation, Andreeva’s 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against Sabalenka in the BNP Paribas Open’s women’s singles finals wasn’t overly surprising. The win was her second-straight WTA 1000 event triumph, after all.

Due to her conquest, Andreeva has now won 12 straight WTA 1000 matches, the youngest to do so since 2009. She’s also the youngest female to win the BNP Paribas Open in 26 years.

The third-youngest BNP Paribas Open singles female champion in history, Andreeva rose to No. 6 in the world rankings after her victory. Additionally, she’s the youngest female to ever attain back-to-back WTA 1000 finals triumphs.

Of equal importance, Andreeva is only the third player, aged 17 or younger, to defeat the world’s top two ranked players in a WTA singles event. During the semifinals, she beat world No. 2 and defending champion Iga Świątek, too.

Without question, Andreeva is achieving significant feats at a considerably rapid pace. When asked if her success was occurring too quickly, she didn’t seem bothered by the pace at all though.

“I like it. If it’s happening fast, [I’ll] take it,” she stressed. “It’s not bad to win two tournaments in a row.”

She also showed the world her humor shortly after winning.

“I want to thank myself,” she said. “I thank myself for fighting until the end and always believing in myself.”

Doubles Champions Relish Victories

Much like Draper and Andreeva, the 2025 BNP Paribas Open’s women’s doubles champions, Asia Muhammad and Demi Schuurs, believed in themselves as well.

The primary reasons? Unlike the singles champions, Muhammad and Schuurs have definitely “been there, done that,” so to speak, as they had already claimed 11 and 19 WTA doubles titles before the BNP Paribas Open, respectively.

While reflecting on their 6-2, 7-6(4) defeat of Tereza Mihalíková and Olivia Nicholls, Muhammad and Schuurs were extremely pleased, especially considering that it was only their third WTA 1000 event as a pairing.

“We lost just one set,” Schuurs said. “We had an unbelievable tournament. We [are] very happy.”

Likewise, World No. 1 men’s doubles players—Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić—were very happy with their performances, too. With their conquest, Pavić became the only active men’s doubles player with 40 victories, after all. Meanwhile, Arévalo won his 14th doubles title and became the BNP Paribas Open’s first-ever Central American winner.

“You always dream to win any title, but especially Indian Wells,” Pavić reflected. “It’s the so-called ‘Fifth Slam.’ You want to have that one in the books.”