SoCal Tennis Stars Take To The Court At Indian Wells Open Qualifying

INDIAN WELLS, CA — Men's singles qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open is set to open Monday, while women's singles qualifying enters its second day of action.

The first leg of the "Sunshine Double," the annual Indian Wells tournament sees top tennis players from around the world return to the desert for the first ATP Tour Masters 1000 and third WTA 1000 event of the season.

Defending champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek are the No. 2- seeded entrants in their singles draws, while 2022 semifinalist Alexander Zverev and 2023 runner-up Aryna Sabalenka are the top-seeded competitors in the men's and women's fields, respectively.

Southern California is well-represented in both the qualifying and main draw fields. Thousand Oaks native Claire Liu won her opening showdown 7-5, 7-6 (6-2) over Yuliia Starodubtseva on Sunday, while brothers Trevor and Zachary Svajda of San Diego have matches about an hour apart.

Other local representatives, including Carlsbad's Julieta Pareja and Rolling Hills' Brandon Holt, will compete later in the day.

Each singles tournament carries nearly $9 million in prize money, with approximately $1.2 million going to the champions.

Following qualifying, the Round of 64 is set to begin Friday, with each singles final to be played on March 16. A full scoreboard can be viewed at www.bnpparibasopen.com.