The 2021 Indian Wells Open (also known as the BNP Paribas Open for sponsorship reasons) was a professional men's and women's tennis tournament played in Indian Wells, California. After the event was cancelled the preceding year amid the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was initially scheduled to take place on March 10–21, 2021, but was postponed to October 6–17, 2021 to accommodate logistics disruptions owing to the pandemic.
It was the 47th edition of the men's event and 32nd of the women's event, and was classified as an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2021 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 event on the 2021 WTA Tour. Both the men's and the women's qualifying and main draw events took place at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden from October 4 through October 17, 2021 on outdoor hard courts.
Dominic Thiem was the defending men's singles champion from when the tournament was last held in 2019. However, after Thiem ended his season early due to an ongoing wrist injury, he withdrew from the tournament. Cameron Norrie won the men's singles title to become the first British man to win the Indian Wells Masters and earn his first ATP Masters 1000 title. Bianca Andreescu was the defending women's singles champion from 2019, but she lost in the third round to Anett Kontaveit. Paula Badosa won the women's singles title to become the first Spanish woman to win the Indian Wells Masters and earn her first WTA 1000 title.
The teams of Nikola Mektić and Horacio Zeballos and Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka were the defending champions in the men's and women's doubles draws, respectively. Mektić and Zeballos chose not to participate together. Mektić played alongside partner Mate Pavić as the top seeds, but the pair lost in the quarterfinals. Zeballos played alongside partner Marcel Granollers, but were eliminated in the first round. Sabalenka chose not to defend her title and Mertens entered alongside partner Hsieh Su-wei. Mertens successfully defended her title with Hsieh, making it Mertens' second and Hsieh's third Indian Wells title, respectively.
Champions
Men's singles
Cameron Norrie def. Nikoloz Basilashvili, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Women's singles
Paula Badosa def. Victoria Azarenka, 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 7–6(7–2)
This was Badosa's second WTA Tour singles title, and first at the WTA 1000 level.
Men's doubles
John Peers / Filip Polášek def. Aslan Karatsev / Andrey Rublev, 6–3, 7–6(7–5)
Women's doubles
Hsieh Su-wei / Elise Mertens def. Veronika Kudermetova / Elena Rybakina, 7–6(7–1), 6–3
Points and prize money
Point distribution Event Men's singles1000600360180904525*101680 Men's doubles 0 Women's singles6503902151206535*1030202 Women's doubles 10
Prize money Event Men's singles$1,209,730$640,000$335,000$175,000$92,000$51,895$29,045$18,155$9,110$4,785Women's singlesMen's doubles*$414,500$220,000$117,240$59,740$31,500$16,870Women's doubles*
ATP singles main-draw entrants
Seeds The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of October 4, 2021. Rank and points before are as of October 4, 2021.
As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system, players are defending their points from the 2019 tournament (which had already been reduced by 50%), as well as from tournaments held during the weeks of 7 and 14 October 2019 (Shanghai, Stockholm, Antwerp and/or Moscow) and 12 October 2020 (St. Petersburg, Cologne or Sardinia). Points from 2019 and 2020 tournaments are included in the table only if they counted towards the player's ranking as of October 4, 2021.
SeedRankPlayerPoints beforePoints dropped from 2019 and/or 2020Points wonPoints afterStatus 1 2 Daniil Medvedev 10,575 1,000+45 90+10 9,630 Fourth round, lost to Grigor Dimitrov 2 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 8,175 360 180 7,995 Quarterfinals, lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili 3 4 Alexander Zverev 7,603 23+600+250 180+10+10 6,930 Quarterfinals lost to Taylor Fritz 4 5 Andrey Rublev 6,130 90+250+500 45+90+90 5,560^ Third round, lost to Tommy Paul 5 7 Matteo Berrettini 5,173 360 45 4,858 Third round, lost to Taylor Fritz 6 10 Casper Ruud 3,615 (90)† 90 3,615 Fourth round, lost to Diego Schwartzman 7 11 3,368 45+150 10+45 3,263^ Second round, lost to Albert Ramos Viñolas 8 12 Hubert Hurkacz 3,333 90+90 180+45 3,378 Quarterfinals, lost to Grigor Dimitrov 9 13 Denis Shapovalov 3,265 45+250+180 45+45+23 2,903 Third round, lost to Aslan Karatsev 10 14 Jannik Sinner 3,100 90 90 3,100 Fourth round, lost to Taylor Fritz 11 15 Diego Schwartzman 2,800 10 180 2,970 Quarterfinals, lost to Cameron Norrie 12 16 Pablo Carreño Busta 2,550 70+90 45+10 2,445 Third round, lost to Karen Khachanov 13 17 Cristian Garín 2,510 45 45 2,510 Third round, lost to Alex de Minaur 14 18 Gaël Monfils 2,418 90+45 90+10 2,383 Fourth round, lost to Alexander Zverev 15 19 Roberto Bautista Agut 2,360 90+90 45+45 2,270 Third round, lost to Cameron Norrie 16 20 Reilly Opelka 2,161 45+90 45+0 2,071 Third round, lost to Grigor Dimitrov 17 21 Lorenzo Sonego 2,122 10 10 2,125^ Second round, lost to Kevin Anderson 18 22 Daniel Evans 2,122 (23)† 45 2,144 Third round, lost to Diego Schwartzman 19 23 Aslan Karatsev 2,109 45 90 2,154 Fourth round, lost to Hubert Hurkacz 20 24 John Isner 2,091 45+90 45+0 2,001 Third round, withdrew 21 26 Cameron Norrie 2,015 70+90 1,000+40 2,895 Champion, defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 22 27 Alex de Minaur 1,991 10 90 2,071 Fourth round, lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 23 28 Grigor Dimitrov 1,881 (10)† 360 2,231 Semifinals, lost to Cameron Norrie 24 29 Karen Khachanov 1,830 90+90+90 90+45+23 1,718 Fourth round, lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili 25 30 Fabio Fognini 1,664 180 45 1,529 Third round, lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 26 31 Lloyd Harris 1,652 57 45 1,640 Third round, lost to Casper Ruud 27 34 Filip Krajinović 1,589 53+10+150 45+28+23 1,472 Third round, lost to Daniil Medvedev 28 35 Dušan Lajović 1,565 10+45 10+23 1,556^ Second round, lost to Tommy Paul 29 36 Nikoloz Basilashvili 1,556 90 600 2,066 Runner-up, lost to Cameron Norrie 30 38 Carlos Alcaraz 1,499 80+80 10+6 1,355Second round, lost to Andy Murray [WC] 31 39 Taylor Fritz 1,495 45 360 1,810Semifinals vs Nikoloz Basilashvili 32 40 Sebastian Korda 1,469 (10)† 10 1,469Second round, lost to Frances Tiafoe † The player is not defending points from either 2019 or 2020. Accordingly, his 19th best result is shown in this column instead. ^ Because the 2021 tournament is non-mandatory, the player substituted his 19th best result in place of the points won in this tournament.
Other entrants The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw: Andy Murray Holger Rune Jack Sock Zachary Svajda J. J. Wolf
The following player received entry using a protected ranking into the singles main draw: Philipp Kohlschreiber
The following players received entry from the qualifying draw: Salvatore Caruso Maxime Cressy Ernesto Escobedo Christopher Eubanks Emilio Gómez Cem İlkel Roberto Marcora Renzo Olivo João Sousa Alejandro Tabilo Botic van de Zandschulp Aleksandar Vukic
Withdrawals Before the tournament Aljaž Bedene → replaced by Daniel Altmaier Alexander Bublik → replaced by Carlos Taberner Jérémy Chardy → replaced by Thiago Monteiro Marin Čilić → replaced by Jenson Brooksby Borna Ćorić → replaced by Guido Pella Pablo Cuevas → replaced by Roberto Carballés Baena Novak Djokovic → replaced by Feliciano López Roger Federer → replaced by Philipp Kohlschreiber David Goffin → replaced by Egor Gerasimov Ugo Humbert → replaced by Steve Johnson Ilya Ivashka → replaced by Daniel Elahi Galán Rafael Nadal → replaced by Brandon Nakashima Milos Raonic → replaced by Denis Kudla Dominic Thiem → replaced by Facundo Bagnis Stan Wawrinka → replaced by Tennys Sandgren Mikael Ymer → replaced by Taro Daniel
During the tournament John Isner
ATP doubles main-draw entrants
Seeds Country Player Country Player Rank SeedNikola MektićMate Pavić11Rajeev RamJoe Salisbury22Marcel GranollersHoracio Zeballos33Juan Sebastián CabalRobert Farah134Kevin KrawietzHoria Tecău205Jamie MurrayBruno Soares196John PeersFilip Polášek87Ivan DodigMarcelo Melo308 Rankings are as of October 4, 2021.
Other entrants The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw: John Isner / Jack Sock Steve Johnson / Sam Querrey Mackenzie McDonald / Brandon Nakashima
The following pair received entry as alternates: Filip Krajinović / Dušan Lajović
Withdrawals Before the tournament Matteo Berrettini / Jannik Sinner → replaced by Filip Krajinović / Dušan Lajović Marcelo Demoliner / Daniil Medvedev → replaced by Cristian Garín / Santiago González
During the tournament John Isner / Jack Sock
WTA singles main-draw entrants
Seeds The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on WTA rankings as of September 27, 2021. Rankings and points before are as of October 4, 2021.
As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system and changes to the WTA Tour calendar in 2020 and 2021, players will have the following potential adjustments to their ranking points after the tournament: players who have points from the 2020 French Open counting towards their ranking on October 4, 2021, will have those points replaced by points from the 2021 French Open; players will be dropping points from tournaments held during the weeks of 7 and 14 October 2019 (Tianjin, Linz, Moscow and Luxembourg); and players who are not defending points from October 2019 will have their 16th best result replaced by their points from the 2021 Indian Wells tournament.
Points from the 2019 Indian Wells tournament will be dropped on November 8, 2021.