Two blows from Indian Wells: Paula Badosa and Nick Kyrgios out due to injury

A rainy Indian Wells, with several games having to be suspended due to the weather conditions, has waved goodbye to two of the most promising stars: Paula Badosa and Nick Kyrgios, due to injury. Badosa, who won Indian Wells in 2021, the biggest tournament in her career, didn't recover soon enough from her back injury that she suffered in Mexico last week and had to retired due to pain.

"I'm very sorry to withdraw from one of my favourite tournaments. I tried until the last moment to play. I am really sad & hopefully will be back next year!", said the Spaniard, in a statement shared by the tournament. Her spot in the tournament has been filled by Eva Lys. Badosa suffered a near career ending back injury in 2023, but recovered and was named Comeback Player of 2024 by WTA, and even reached her first major semi-final in Australia this year.

Nick Kyrgios suffered a similar fate: the Australian has barely played in a year and a half due to injury. He returned to the circuit this year, and tested his strength against Botic Van de Zandschulp, but he had to withdraw from the match when he was losing 7-6 (7), 3-0, due to pain in his wrist, which left him in tears. There are fears that this could be the end of his career, as he hasn't recovered from the injury over two years ago.

That means Dutch player Van de Zandschulp will be the first rival of Novak Djokovic in his debut in second round, some time this weekend. Times for the second round games (round of 64) have not been confirmed, and it will depend on the weather, which caused the suspension of some games, including the match between Quentin Halys and Pablo Carreño, which was 6-3, 4-1 for the French player, who will likely be Alcaraz's first rival this weekend.