Jelena Dokic, who spent her whole career navigating painful moments, was abused by her father and suffered from depression and an eating disorder, contemplating suicide at her lowest points.
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.
The BNP Paribas Open Round of 16 on March 10 features two matches at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California on hard courts. The headline matchup showcases No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka versus No. 16 Naomi Osaka at 1:00 PM ET, with Talia Gibson facing Jasmine Paolini in the second match.
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.
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.
Mikel Arteta has said failing to maintain his "great" relationship with Pep Guardiola amid a title race would set a "bad example" for sport and instead pointed to the respectful rivalry between tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The pair first met at Barcelona's La Masia academy when Arteta was just 15 years old and he later worked under Guardiola at Manchester City for three seasons prior to becoming Arsenal boss in 2019.
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.
Top-ranked tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has announced her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis. Sabalenka posted a video of the proposal on Instagram, accompanied by the words 'You & me, forever,' along with a ring and heart emoji.
I don't really feel like there is a lot of house money or underdog mentality that I'm feeling, because I don't feel like I have been playing anything outside of my comfort zone or outside of my normal level, Jovic said. I have come from two other tournaments where I was playing every day and winning a lot of matches, as well.