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Emma Raducanu will be offered increased security if she plays the Indian Wells Open after a man exhibiting “fixated behaviour” followed her to her last four tournaments.

A worrying incident took place during Raducanu‘s 6-7(6), 4-6 loss to Karolina Muchova in the second round of the WTA 1000 event in Dubai last week.

After falling 0-2 behind in the first set, a visibly distressed Raducanu spoke to the umpire before hiding behind the official’s chair while crying. Muchova consoled Raducanu, while the umpire spoke to security officials and also had a lengthy discussion with both players before the match resumed.

A man was removed from the stadium during this break, and the WTA later revealed that the same individual had first approached Raducanu in public the day before the match.

A statement from the WTA Tour read: “On Monday, February 17, Emma Raducanu was approached in a public area by a man who exhibited fixated behaviour.

“This same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and subsequently ejected. He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.

The man – confirmed to be a tourist in Dubai – has since been handed a restraining order, in return for having charges against him dropped.

Raducanu, who has returned to the UK following the harrowing experience, is next due to compete at the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, which will be held from March 5-16.

According to The Times, the 22-year-old is “likely to be offered up to five extra security guards when she is on site at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.”

It is also possible that some of the guards could accompany the 2021 US Open champion off-site to her accommodation.

The WTA Tour’s vice-president of security, Bob Campbell, is in charge of arrangements and has vast experience having been a United States Secret Service agent between 1983 and 2003.

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Roman Kelecic coached Raducanu as a junior and worked with her at the tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai this month.

The Croatian coach has revealed that the same man who stalked Raducanu in Dubai also followed the Brit to her previous three events in Doha, Abu Dhabi and Singapore.

“This man followed her to Singapore, to Abu Dhabi where I was with her, again in Doha, now in Dubai and we noticed him,” Kelecic told Croatian outlet Net.

“But initially we thought he was a fan, an admirer, because Emma is a really big tennis star with a huge fan base. Until he got physically close to her, started having contact in the form of selfies, hugging, etc.

“That was the only moment in a month where I, the fitness coach, the security guard who was with us, was not with her at that moment.

“So, that man was assessing the situation and looking for the best moment to get closer to her. He had a strategy that was terrifying, he thought everything through, calculated it.

“It’s terrifying how much he, in essence, thought about it all and planned it. His strategy worked, and it was to get closer to her.”

READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu ‘could be seeded’ for French Open after huge boost

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Emma Raducanu has secured automatic entry into the Indian Wells WTA 1000 tournament and that could be crucial to her rankings ambitions for the rest of this year.

Raducanu reached the third round in Indian Wells last year and will be defending 65 points when she returns to the desert to play on her favoured hard courts next month.

She will then have a big chance to build on her ranking when she plays at the Miami Open later in March, which is another WTA 1000 tournament that offers huge ranking points.

Once again, she was relying on a wild card to gain entry into the Miami Open last year and was forced to pull out due to injury without hitting a ball in Florida, but she should gain direct entry this year.

While Raducanu’s form in 2025 has been indifferent after four successive losses prior to her solitary win against Greece’s Maria Sakkari in last week’s Dubai tournament, the 2021 US Open champion will be eager to find some winning consistency over the next few weeks.

She is currently ranked at No 54 in the live rankings and would only need to win two or three matches in Indian Wells and Miami to secure a return to the top 50.

Raducanu’s ranking did not secure her entry into last year’s French Open, but there is a chance she could be seeded for the second Grand Slam tournament of 2025 if she has strong performances in Indian Wells and Miami, before she is set to play at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in mid-April.

The bulk of the ranking points Raduacanu needs to defend in the coming months will be up for grabs in the grass court season, after she enjoyed strong performances in WTA Tour events in Nottingham and Eastbourne last year, before reaching the last-16 at Wimbledon.

The Brit had a relatively light tournament schedule in the second half of 2024 so that will again offer up opportunities for rankings leaps if she can stay fit and use her improved ranking to play in more events.

So while Raducanu has faced some criticism for her inconsistent performances in recent weeks, the picture could look a lot brighter for the 22-year-old heading into the French Open.

In the opinion of former British No 1 Tim Henman, Raducanu could be back in the top 30 of the WTA Rankings if she stays fit, as he suggests her best form is good enough to compete with the game’s top players.

“If she can stay healthy and competes a lot, the results will come because she’s that good,” said Sky Sports Tennis analyst Henman.

“If she wasn’t good enough, you’d say she has to pick her tournaments and play some weaker events. With Emma, if she stays healthy, I’m convinced the results will follow.

“I never thought it was about her level. When she has played, her level has always been very good, but if you look at the breakdown of her ranking last year, I think she played 33 matches and 11 of them were on grass.

“When you look at the other 10 months of the year, to have only played 22 matches is so few. She is aware of that, I’m sure, and she will get a coach at the right moment, but for me, the physical work she is doing is most significant.

“I’ve always been a big, big advocate of playing matches. I always played a lot of matches.

“I think the challenge for Raducanu is around physical resilience.

“You talk about Katie Boulter and all the improvements that she made. Yes, she has got better as a tennis player, her movement has improved, but it’s also the resilience to be able to play that full schedule.

“You saw Katie at the end of the year playing four or five tournaments in a row. She made a final in Hong Kong, at the last event of the year and finished in the top 25.

“Raducanu has had a decent year going from sort of 300 into the top 60 but, when you look at the amount of tennis she’s played, she hasn’t played a great deal. If she builds up that resilience, every time she steps on the court, she was playing good tennis.

“Therefore, top 50, top 30 in 2025, I think is completely realistic.”

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Raducanu will be keen to get back on court after a disturbing incident marred her exit in Dubai last week, as a man displaying “fixated behaviour” confronted her before her second-round defeat to Karolina Muchova.

The individual reportedly handed Raducanu a letter the day before her match with Muchova before he was then spotted in the crowd during her match.

A statement from the Women’s Tennis Association revealed that Raducanu had been approached in a public area by a man the day before she faced Muchova.

“On Monday, February 17, Emma Raducanu was approached in a public area by a man who exhibited fixated behaviour,” a WTA statement read.

“This same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and subsequently ejected. He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.

“Player safety is our top priority, and tournaments are advised on security best practices for international sporting events.

“The WTA is actively working with Emma and her team to ensure her well-being and provide any necessary support.

“We remain committed to collaborating with tournaments and their security teams worldwide to maintain a safe environment for all players.”

Indian Wells 2025 WTA Singles Entry List and Projected Seeds (based on WTA Rankings as of 24 February 2025)

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek
3. Coco Gauff
4. Jessica Pegula
5. Madison Keys
6. Jasmine Paolini
7. Elena Rybakina
8. Qinwen Zheng
9. Mirra Andreeva
10. Emma Navarro
11. Paula Badosa
12. Daria Kasatkina
13. Diana Shnaider
14. Danielle Collins
15. Karolina Muchova
16. Barbora Krejcikova
17. Beatriz Haddad Maia
18. Amanda Anisimova
19. Marta Kostyuk
20. Donna Vekic
21. Ekaterina Alexandrova
22. Yulia Putintseva
23. Clara Tauson
24. Elina Svitolina
25. Liudmila Samsonova
26. Katie Boulter
27. Jelena Ostapenko
28. Leylah Fernandez
29. Elise Mertens
30. Maria Sakkari
31. Magdalena Frech
32. Linda Noskova
Ons Jabeur
Anna Kalinskaya
Anastasia Potapova
Victoria Azarenka
Marketa Vondrousova
Magda Linette
Xinyu Wang
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Olga Danilovic
Naomi Osaka
Marie Bouzkova
Rebecca Sramkova
Lulu Sun
Peyton Stearns
Karolina Pliskova
Elina Avanesyan
Anhelina Kalinina
Dayana Yastremska
Ashlyn Krueger
Veronika Kudermetova
Camila Osorio
Katerina Siniakova
Yue Yuan
Emma Raducanu
McCartney Kessler
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
Polina Kudermetova
Elisabetta Cocciaretto
Ann Li
Moyuka Uchijima
Viktoriya Tomova
Sorana Cirstea
Mayar Sherif
Renata Zarazua
Suzan Lamens
Katie Volynets
Kamilla Rakhimova
Varvara Gracheva
Anna Blinkova
Lucia Bronzetti
Jaqueline Cristian
Petra Kvitova (WC)
Irina Begu (PR)
Lauren Davis (PR)
Caty McNally (PR)

READ NEXT: Emma Raducanu can expect ‘gifts’ as she signs up for new Queen’s Club tournament

The post Emma Raducanu ‘could be seeded’ for French Open after huge boost appeared first on Tennis365.

Former British No 1 Laura Robson has given an insight into how tennis tournaments are organised after she took on the role of tournament director for the WTA 500 event at the Queen’s Club in June.

A reshuffle of the grass-court events leading up to Wimbledon has seen the creation of a WTA 500 tournament beginning on June 9, the week before the traditional men’s event.

Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys, Daria Kasatkina, Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu are among the players who have signed up to play at Queen’s Club, as women’s tennis returns to the historic venue for the first time in For the first time first time since 1973.

The men’s tournament at the Queen’s Club is consistently voted by players as their favourite ATP 500 event each year and now Robson is aiming for that title with WTA players.

“The most popular WTA 500 event is Charleston and as long as I can do better than them, I’ll be happy,” said Robson at a Sky Sports Tennis event, referencing the largest female-only professional tennis tournament in North America.

“It’s small little things like gifting every day and practice court availability. That’s how you can keep players happy, so that’s my No 1 goal.

“It’s a new event, so you never know how it’s going to go. I’m very positive about it and I think it’s going to be great for the players involved.

“The logistics are very hard because it’s a members club and they are used to having a lot of their own spaces and we have taken over the women’s dressing room for the first time.

“It’s a small club and that space on site is what it is. We can’t have any more, so we need to limit the amount of people that are there.

“I couldn’t be more confident about the courts. We have made sure we have less matches on Centre Court and No 1 Court, so hopefully that will keep them fresh.

“The general consensus is everyone is excited to have this new event, so we will see how it goes.”

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Robson has been tournament director at the grass court event in Nottingham for the last two years and she is part of a growing cohort of former players moving into Tournament Director role, with Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray leading the LTA’s organisation team in that role for the ATP Tour event at Queen’s Club for a second successive year this summer.

Tickets for the ATP Tour event at the Queen’s Club always sell out quickly, with big interest from major brands and companies for the hospitality village that is built each year.

All tickets for this year’s men’s tournament at Queen’s have been sold, with tournament organisers hoping the lure of watching players like four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, recently crowned Australian Open champion Keys and the British duo of Raducanu and Boulter will attract similar crowds for the WTA Tour event.

This will be a big test of the interest in the women’s game, with tickets on sale for the WTA 500 tournaments at the Queen’s Club for just £20.

READ NEXT: Laura Robson gives her verdict on Novak Djokovic after Qatar Open upset

The post Emma Raducanu can expect ‘gifts’ as she signs up for new Queen’s Club tournament appeared first on Tennis365.

The first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the 2025 season will take place in Indian Wells, and the entry list features a host of star names.

This year’s Indian Wells Open, which will run from March 5 to 16, will be the 51st edition of the ATP tournament.

The hard-court event in the Californian desert is one of the most prestigious tournaments outside of the four majors and it has at times been referred to as the ‘fifth Grand Slam.’

Carlos Alcaraz is the two-time reigning Indian Wells champion, having downed Daniil Medvedev in the last two championship matches.

The Spanish star will compete with Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, but world No 1 Jannik Sinner will not play as he is banned until May 4 due to failing doping tests. Zverev is set to be the top seed in Sinner’s absence.

Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul will lead the American interest as they are both set to be seeded in the top eight, while Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe will be among the top 20 seeds.

How many players will feature in the main draw?

The Indian Wells men’s singles main draw will feature 96 players, a total consisting of 79 direct entrants, 12 qualifiers and five wildcards.

Which players have received wildcards?

Two of the five players who will receive main draw wildcards have been announced and they are: Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien.

Fonseca, an 18-year-old Brazilian prodigy, is ranked 78th after he recently won his maiden ATP title at the Argentina Open.

World No 83 Tien, a 19-year-old who made a stunning run to the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open as a qualifier, is one of the brightest young American prospects.

Have any players withdrawn?

As things stand, Sinner — who was forced to pull out due to his aforementioned doping ban — is the only man to withdraw.

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Which former champions will play?

Four former Indian Wells champions have entered: Alcaraz (2023 and 2024), Djokovic (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016), Fritz (2022) and Cameron Norrie (2021).

Have any players used a protected ranking to enter?

Players who have been unable to compete in any tournaments due to injury for a minimum of six months are eligible to use the ATP protected ranking system.

The protected ranking will be determined by the player’s average ranking position during the first three months of their injury. They can use the protected ranking to enter nine tournaments and for a period of nine months from the first event they play after returning.

Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka and Jenson Brooksby have all used a protected ranking to gain entry into the Indian Wells main draw.

Indian Wells 2025 ATP Singles Entry List and Projected Seeds based on ATP Rankings as of 24 February 2025 (numbers on the right are Entry Rankings)

1. Alexander Zverev, 2
2. Carlos Alcaraz, 3
3. Taylor Fritz, 4
4. Casper Ruud, 5
5. Daniil Medvedev, 7
6. Novak Djokovic, 6
7. Alex de Minaur, 8
8. Tommy Paul, 9
9. Andrey Rublev, 10
10. Stefanos Tsitsipas, 12
11. Holger Rune, 14
12. Ben Shelton, 13
13. Ugo Humbert, 15
14. Grigor Dimitrov, 11
15. Jack Draper, 16
16. Lorenzo Musetti, 17
17. Frances Tiafoe, 18
18. Arthur Fils, 19
19. Hubert Hurkacz, 21
20. Karen Khachanov, 20
21. Sebastian Korda, 22
22. Felix Auger-Aliassime, 23
23. Tomas Machac, 25
24. Jiri Lehecka, 24
25. Francisco Cerundolo, 29
26. Alexei Popyrin, 26
27. Alejandro Tabilo, 27
28. Jordan Thompson, 28
29. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 30
30. Sebastian Baez, 31
31. Denis Shapovalov, 54
32. Alex Michelsen, 36
Matteo Arnaldi, 39
Matteo Berrettini, 33
Lorenzo Sonego, 34
Pedro Martinez, 44
Gael Monfils, 32
Nuno Borges, 37
Flavio Cobolli, 35
Brandon Nakashima, 42
Miomir Kecmanovic, 55
Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 40
Jan-Lennard Struff, 45
Jakub Mensik, 47
Mariano Navone, 48
Nicolas Jarry, 38
Alexander Bublik, 49
Zhizhen Zhang, 50
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 59
Tallon Griekspoor, 43
Marcos Giron, 41
Roberto Carballes Baena, 51
Roberto Bautista Agut, 52
Jaume Munar, 64
Juncheng Shang, 53
Fabian Marozsan, 57
Zizou Bergs, 61
Cameron Norrie, 63
Alexandre Muller, 58
Luciano Darderi, 46
Yoshihito Nishioka, 67
Arthur Rinderknech, 60
Benjamin Bonzi, 62
David Goffin, 56
Corentin Moutet, 65
Aleksandar Vukic, 66
Joao Fonseca (WC)
Yunchaokete Bu, 68
Roman Safiullin, 69
Kei Nishikori, 71
Thiago Seyboth Wild, 76
Thanasi Kokkinakis, 72
Aleksandar Kovacevic, 75
Rinky Hijikata, 73
Quentin Halys, 74
Learner Tien (WC)
Luca Nardi, 77
Reilly Opelka, 33 (PR)
Facundo Diaz Acosta, 70
Nick Kyrgios, 21 (PR)
Jenson Brooksby, 52 (PR)

READ NEXT: Joao Fonseca makes ‘unmatched’ claim as he chooses between Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer

The post ATP Indian Wells 2025 Entry List: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev headline as two wildcards revealed appeared first on Tennis365.

The fallout from Jannik Sinner’s three-month drug ban continues to be the biggest talking point in tennis, with opinion divided on the outcome of what is a complex case.

World No 1 Sinner tested positive for clostebol in March last year, but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) decided not to suspend the Italian after accepting his explanation for why the anabolic steroid was found in his system.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced it had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was seeking a two-year ban, but they reached ‘an agreement’ with Sinner and his team that sees the Australian Open and US Open champion sitting out of the sport for the nxt three-months.

That agreement has been met with plenty of pessimism by many observers, but WADA’s general counsel Ross Wenzel believes the sanction level was “in the right place” for the offence.

“This was a case that was a million miles away from doping,” he told BBC Sport.

“The scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing.

“WADA has received messages from those that consider that the sanction was too high and, in some respects if you have some saying this is unfair on the athlete, and others saying it’s not enough, maybe it’s an indication that although it’s not going to be popular with everyone, maybe it’s an indication that it was in the right place.

“When we look at these cases we try to look at them technically, operationally and we don’t do it with fear of what the public and the politicians or anyone is going to say.”

Plenty of leading former and current tennis players have given their judgement on Sinner’s ban, which was at a level that ensured he does not miss any Grand Slams and will return just before the Rome Masters in his home country.

24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic was among those who questioned the process that concluded with Sinner’s three-month ban, yet Andy Murray’s former coach Dani Vallverdu has suggested the Italian should be getting support rather than criticism from those within the sport.

Both the ITIA and WADA have now concluded that this was not a case of deliberate doping, with Vallverdu – who was working with Murray when he won his first Wimbledon title in 2013 – arguing the time has come for Sinner to be shown some support from the tennis family.

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“After giving it some days to digest the reaction from the tennis world regarding the Jannik Sinner ban, I would like to say that I’m saddened by the lack of camaraderie – most not focusing on the facts of the case,” Vallverdu wrote on his X account. “The real losers here are JS (Sinner) and tennis.

“We should be focusing on the Anti-Doping agency’s processes and rules rather than the player being a victim from it – who clearly had zero performance-enhancing benefits. ZERO.

“I have known JS since he was 14-years-old and I’m comfortable to say that he is 100% not at fault.

“The Anti-Doping agencies are at fault for the lack of consistency and accuracy with most tennis cases lately.

“There should have never been a ban here. Not an easy time for JS and the Team. Stay strong and Rome will be the perfect setting for the warm welcome he deserves.”

Sinner has yet to confirm whether he will play the the Rome Masters, but it would appear to be the natural return date for the world No 1 as he aims to win his first French Open title at Roland Garros in an event that gets underway in May.

READ NEXT: Juan Martin del Potro explains why he finds Jannik Sinner’s doping ban ‘strange’

The post Jannik Sinner’s drug ban is wrong according to Andy Murray’s former coach appeared first on Tennis365.

Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca has named his biggest sporting idol and also picked between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as he revealed who he thinks is the greatest tennis player of all time.

The world No 70, who is the youngest player and only 18-year-old in the top 100 of the ATP Rankings, is one of the most exciting talents to emerge in tennis in recent memory.

Fonseca won his maiden ATP title at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires this month as he impressively overcame four Argentine players in his five matches.

The Brazilian ended 2024 by winning all five of his matches to triumph at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah.

He carried his form into this year by winning the Canberra Challenger without losing a set and then qualified for the Australian Open in dominant fashion.

The teenage star delivered a stunning display to beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round in Melbourne in what was his Grand Slam main draw debut.

Fonseca is sponsored by the Swiss sportswear brand On, in which 20-time major champion Federer is a shareholder.

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In an interview with Brazilian outlet Globo, Fonseca divulged that Federer is his idol and that he believes the Swiss legend to be the tennis ‘GOAT’.

“Federer. There’s no way to change that,” he said.

“People can say that Djokovic is the greatest of all time, but for me there’s no way. Djokovic may be the best of all time, but Federer is the greatest. Unmatched.”

Asked what he considers his greatest strength, Fonseca said: “Technically, it’s definitely my forehand.

“But I think that apart from that, it’s definitely my maturity, in realising important parts of the game, that important moment when I have to play in a certain way, a point where I have to be more courageous.

“This part of maturing on the court, when I have to have posture, is the part where I’m best. Showing that I’m strong when I’m tired, this mental part is one of my best weapons.”

On what has he improved the most from last season, he added: “I’m much faster, much more resilient.

“I would say that my serve has also improved, my first serve in particular, which is something I used to fail at a lot, and now I’m more consistent.

“And my consistency in general, I’m more solid. Before, I was a kid who hit really hard, but also made a lot of mistakes. Now I’m combining strength, power, with consistency.

“I’m being more consistent, making better movements, so I believe that physique and consistency are the things I’ve improved the most.”

READ NEXT: Tim Henman delivers GOAT verdict between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

The post Joao Fonseca makes ‘unmatched’ claim as he chooses between Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer appeared first on Tennis365.

The third WTA 1000 tournament of the 2025 season will take place in Indian Wells, and the entry list confirms there will be a star-studded field at the prestigious event.

This year’s Indian Wells Open, which will run from March 5 to 16, will be the 36th edition of the WTA tournament.

The hard-court event in the Californian desert is considered one of the biggest tournaments outside of the four Grand Slams.

Iga Swiatek is the reigning Indian Wells champion, having beaten Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 in the 2024 final.

The Polish star will defend her crown, while world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka will seek her maiden Indian Wells title having been a runner-up in 2023.

World No 3 Coco Gauff, Australian Open winner Madison Keys and Emma Navarro headline the American interest, with the trio all set to be seeded in the top 10.

How many players will feature in the main draw?

The Indian Wells women’s singles main draw will be contested by 96 players, a total made up of 76 direct entrants, 12 qualifiers and eight wildcards.

Which players have received wildcards?

Two of the eight players who will receive main draw wildcards were announced recently and they were: Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova.

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No 1, has not played since the 2024 Miami Open, but she will not make her return to Indian Wells as she turned down the wildcard due to prior commitments.

Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon winner and former world No 2, has been absent from the tour since October 2023 as she gave birth to her first child in July last year.

Which former champions will play?

Five former Indian Wells champions have entered: Swiatek (2022 and 2024), Elena Rybakina (2023), Paula Badosa (2021), Naomi Osaka (2018) and Victoria Azarenka (2012 and 2016).

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Have any players withdrawn?

As things stand, no players on the WTA entry list have pulled out of the event.

Have any players used a protected ranking to enter?

Players who have been unable to compete in any tournaments due to injury for a minimum of six months are eligible to use the ATP protected ranking system.

The protected ranking will be determined by the player’s average ranking position during the first three months of their injury. They can use the protected ranking to enter nine tournaments and for a period of nine months from the first event they play after returning.

Irina Begu, Lauren Davis and Caty McNally have all used a protected ranking to gain entry into the Indian Wells main draw.

Will Emma Raducanu play?

Emma Raducanu‘s ranking has earned her direct entry into the Indian Wells main draw after she required a wildcard to play the first two WTA 1000 events of 2025 in Doha and Dubai.

Indian Wells 2025 WTA Singles Entry List and Projected Seeds (based on WTA Rankings as of 24 February 2025)

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek
3. Coco Gauff
4. Jessica Pegula
5. Madison Keys
6. Jasmine Paolini
7. Elena Rybakina
8. Qinwen Zheng
9. Mirra Andreeva
10. Emma Navarro
11. Paula Badosa
12. Daria Kasatkina
13. Diana Shnaider
14. Danielle Collins
15. Karolina Muchova
16. Barbora Krejcikova
17. Beatriz Haddad Maia
18. Amanda Anisimova
19. Marta Kostyuk
20. Donna Vekic
21. Ekaterina Alexandrova
22. Yulia Putintseva
23. Clara Tauson
24. Elina Svitolina
25. Liudmila Samsonova
26. Katie Boulter
27. Jelena Ostapenko
28. Leylah Fernandez
29. Elise Mertens
30. Maria Sakkari
31. Magdalena Frech
32. Linda Noskova
Ons Jabeur
Anna Kalinskaya
Anastasia Potapova
Victoria Azarenka
Marketa Vondrousova
Magda Linette
Xinyu Wang
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Olga Danilovic
Naomi Osaka
Marie Bouzkova
Rebecca Sramkova
Lulu Sun
Peyton Stearns
Karolina Pliskova
Elina Avanesyan
Anhelina Kalinina
Dayana Yastremska
Ashlyn Krueger
Veronika Kudermetova
Camila Osorio
Katerina Siniakova
Yue Yuan
Emma Raducanu
McCartney Kessler
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
Polina Kudermetova
Elisabetta Cocciaretto
Ann Li
Moyuka Uchijima
Viktoriya Tomova
Sorana Cirstea
Mayar Sherif
Renata Zarazua
Suzan Lamens
Katie Volynets
Kamilla Rakhimova
Varvara Gracheva
Anna Blinkova
Lucia Bronzetti
Jaqueline Cristian
Petra Kvitova (WC)
Irina Begu (PR)
Lauren Davis (PR)
Caty McNally (PR)

READ NEXT: Money and points earned by Mirra Andreeva after becoming youngest Dubai champion?

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It has been revealed where Novak Djokovic will play next – and the tennis great is set to stick to his intended tournament schedule despite concerns over his fitness.

The Serbian’s participation at the Indian Wells Masters has been confirmed, with the tournament’s social media account posting a picture of Djokovic with the following caption: “A legend returns to the desert.”

Indian Wells, which is the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, will be held from March 5 to 16.

Djokovic suffered a tear in his left hamstring during his four-set win against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open last month.

The injury forced Djokovic to retire after the first set of his semi-final with Alexander Zverev in Melbourne, but he made a swift recovery to return to action for this week’s Qatar Open.

The 37-year-old was beaten 7-6(4), 6-2 by Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament and insisted afterwards that he felt fine physically.

“I didn’t have any pain or discomfort in that sense. I was outplayed by just a better player today,” Djokovic told reporters in Doha.

“Yes, I wasn’t at my desired level, and it could be that I’m still not moving the way I want to move, but, I mean, I played without pain, so there is no excuse in that.

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“He was just the better player. I think he played a masterclass match, to be honest, tactically, and served very well, so just a very deserved win from his side.”

Djokovic also played two matches in the Qatar Open doubles event as he reached the quarter-finals with Fernando Verdasco at the Spaniard’s last-ever event.

Despite Djokovic’s assertion that he played without pain, a video emerged of him appearing to limp as he entered an airport to depart from Doha.

This raised some fears that the world No 7 could have made his comeback from the hamstring tear too soon and suffered a recurrence, or that a different injury had surfaced.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner’s commitment to play in Indian Wells, though, suggests he is not worried about his physical state.

Djokovic has revealed he is “likely” to resume his player-coach collaboration with Andy Murray in Indian Wells after a hugely positive start to the relationship at the Australian Open.

The Serbian suffered a shock defeat to Luca Nardi in the third round of the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. That was his first appearance at the tournament in the Californian desert since 2019.

Djokovic is a five-time Indian Wells champion.

READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic makes ‘more challenging’ confession as he addresses suffering ‘more injuries’

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Mirra Andreeva became the youngest WTA 1000 title winner since 2009 and with it came a big winner’s cheque and a massive points haul.

Aged 17 years and five months, Andreeva defeated world No 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-final and world No 6 Elena Rybakina in the final to reach her maiden WTA 1000 final.

She then topped Clara Tauson 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 to win the Dubai Tennis Championships and with it comes a rise into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings for the first time in her career.

Points Earned

The teenager, who reached the semi-final of the French Open in 2024, started the week at No 14 in the rankings and will rise to a career-high No 9 on Monday.

That is thanks to her points tally of 1,000, although she effectively earned “only” 990 points.

Having lost in the first round of the 2024 Dubai WTA 1000 event, Andreeva dropped 10 points at the start of the tournament while she earned 1,000 points for her title run, meaning there was a 990-point swing.

The Russian was on 2,730 points before the tournament and will move to 3,720 when the rankings is updated, just behind Zheng Qinwen on 3,780 in eighth place while there is a bigger gap to Rybakina in seventh place.

Runner-up Clara Tauson was at No 33 before the Dubai tournament, but she will surge to No 22 after picking up 648 for her run to the final.

Rybakina and Karolina Muchova lost in the semi-finals and 390 points are on offer for those reaching the last four and the latter got the full compliment as she didn’t play last year.

Rybakina, though, left with 175 points as she reached the quarter-final in 2024.

Swiatek, Sofia Kenin, Sorana Cirstea and Linda Noskova all lost in the last eight where 215 points are awarded and only Kenin (+155) and Noskova (+200) left in the positive when their 2024 points dropped.

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Five-time Grand Slam winner had a -175-point swing and Cirstea also lost 175 points as she was a semi-finalist last year.

But Jasmine Paolini was the biggest loser as she was the defending champion, but exited in the round of 16, thus dropping 880 points.

What About Money?

According to the WTA, Andreeva had earned $501,920 in prize money for the year before the Dubai event while her career earnings sit at $3,202,867.

The 17-year-old picked up a cheque of $597,000 for winning the title while Tauson will double her earnings for the year to date as she won $351,801 to add to the $302,299 before the tournament.

The two losing semi-finalists were awarded $181,400 and the quarter-finalists $83,470.

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka exited in the round of 16 and won $41,600 in prize money while she earned 110 points (she was defending 10 points from last year) while No 3 Coco Gauff lost in the second round so she lost 205 points after reaching the quarter-final last year, but she did receive a cheque of $23,500.

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Jannik Sinner “knows he’s done absolutely nothing wrong” and remains “very comfortable in himself” following his positive doping tests in 2024, but he did need some convincing from his legal representative to accept the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) offer of an immediate ban.

That is according to his lawyer Jamie Singer, who has given more insight into talks with WADA that led to the case being settled ahead of their tribunal hearing.

The world No 1 twice tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol in March last year and he was provisionally suspended before his lawyers successfully argued his case and he was allowed to continue playing.

In August the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing as they accepted his explanation that the substance entered his system when his physiotherapist – who used a product containing clostebol – gave him a message.

But WADA then appealed the decision as they felt despite the Italian bearing “no fault or negligence” he should still have been banned and they demanded a suspension of between one and two years.

The case was set be heard by the Court of Arbitration in Sport for April, but the parties reached an agreement on 14 February and details were made public the following day.

A statement read: “The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that it has entered into a case resolution agreement in the case of Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner, with the player accepting a three-month period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation that led to him testing positive for clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024.”

Many believe it was a good deal for Sinner, but the three-time Grand Slam winner wasn’t initially too keen on settling with WADA.

In an extensive interview with BBC Sport, Singer said it was “quite tricky” to persuade him to take the offer.

“When I was saying ‘well, look, maybe we should settle for three months’, he was saying ‘well, why would we do that if the first independent tribunal found it was no ban at all, why would I accept three months now?’” Singer said.

“My advice was ‘one never knows what’s going to happen at a hearing, we know that WADA are pushing for a year, if we don’t accept their offer then they will go to court looking for a year and who knows what those three judges could do’.

“So the possibility of three months, in my view, was a good possibility.”

Sinner won’t miss any Grand Slams as he will be able to return to action on 4 May, just ahead of the Italian Open with the French Open starting later in the month.

The timing certainly worked well for the 23-year-old, but Singer insisted they had no input on the date of the ban.

“We can’t get away from the fact that you can’t choose when these things happen,” he explained.

“So the fact that WADA approached us and in the next three months there are no Grand Slams, that seemed to me to make their offer more compelling.”

Several current and former players have lashed out at the agreement with the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka and Marion Bartoli all criticising the decision.

But Sinner remains unperturbed, according to Singer.

“Jannik is a very resilient young man, and in his own mind he knows he’s done absolutely nothing wrong and the process has been absolutely by the book. So I think he’s very comfortable in himself,” he said.

“He keeps off social media where there are an awful lot of people with a platform, and who don’t necessarily know the facts of the case, or investigate the facts of the case as much as they might do.”

And while some were surprised that WADA offered to settle, the organisation has made it clear that they have reached 67 agreements since 2021.

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WADA’s general counsel Ross Wenzel says they have 67 agreements while he again insisted Sinner did not intentionally dope.

“This was a case that was a million miles away from doping,” he told BBC Sport.

“The scientific feedback that we received was that this could not be a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing.”

He added: “I’m not sure that a sanction of 12 months in this case – if we’d have forced the tribunal into that position – or a case of ‘no fault’ would have been a good outcome.

“One would have compromised an important principle under the code. The other one, in our view, would have been an unduly harsh sanction.”

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