Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek were seen at the Champions Luncheon at the BNP Paribas Open on March 6. The couple are the defending winners in the California desert, having won both the men’s and women’s singles titles a year ago.
Alcaraz performed quite well in Indian Wells last year. The Spaniard was the event’s second seed and dropped only two sets on his way to the final, defeating his closest competitors, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner, in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
The Spaniard won 7-6 (5), 6-1 against Daniil Medvedev in the final, securing his fifth Masters 1000 championship.
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek was in pristine form in the Californian desert last year. The Pole was the top seed and blew away the rest of the field, winning 6-4, 6-0 over Maria Sakkari in the final. It was the Polish player’s eighth title at the WTA 1000 level.
Alcaraz and Swiatek attended the champion’s lunch together before their 2025 campaign, as part of a new tournament tradition. Both appeared to be in excellent spirits and prepared to take the court this week.
The Spaniard’s campaign begins on March 8 and will face either Quentin Halys or Pablo Carreno Busta. Swiatek will start her campaign against Caroline Garcia on March 7.
In recent days, a heated discussion has erupted over the Indian Wells event organisers’ decision to replace the surface after 25 years. According to initial rumours, the courts should have been more similar to those of the Miami Open and the US Open (faster and with lower bounces than previous editions).
However, players who have held their press conferences these days have expressed very different opinions when questioned on the subject. Some have argued that the surface is much faster than in the past, while other tennis players such as Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have said that there is no difference from previous years.
Fans and insiders thought that this change would especially hurt the champion of the last two editions – Carlos Alcaraz – who had played exceptional tennis in both 2023 and 2024 (lifting the trophy in both cases).
The former world No.1 loved the previous surface of Indian Wells and – during his press conference – he confessed that he did not understand the reasons behind this change.
Alcaraz practiced well
According to reports from ‘MARCA’ – after carrying out his first practice session in California – Carlitos and his team would have noticed that the surface is identical to that of past years (just as slow due to the roughness).
The young Spaniard’s debut in the first Masters 1000 of 2025 is already set for Saturday 8 March against the winner of the match between French ace Quentin Halys and Spanish veteran Pablo Carreno Busta.
The four-time Grand Slam champion started the season with two quarterfinals and a title in Rotterdam, which are excellent but not outstanding for a player of his calibre.
Despite Zverev’s catastrophic results in February, the 21-year-old from Murcia has yet to overtake him in second place in the ATP rankings. Indian Wells and Miami will also be critical for Carlitos to close the gap on World No.1 Jannik Sinner.
