Indian Wells 2025: Emma Navarro vs Donna Vekic preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | BNP Paribas Open

Match Details

Fixture: (10) Emma Navarro vs (19) Donna Vekic

Date: March 10, 2025

Tournament: BNP Paribas Open 2025

Round: Third Round (Round of 32)

Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California, United States

Category: Masters 1000

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $9,693,540

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN

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Emma Navarro vs Donna Vekic preview

Emma Navarro at the BNP Paribas Open (Image Source: Getty)

Tenth seed Emma Navarro will take on 19th seed Donna Vekic in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Whoever out of the two wins, will take on either fifth seed Madison Keys or 28th seed Elise Mertens in the fourth round of the WTA 1000 event.

Navarro has won 11 out of 16 matches so far in the 2025 season and entered Indian Wells on the back of a victorious run at the Merida Open. The 23-year-old produced dominant performances at the tournament, dropping just 15 games en route to her maiden WTA 500 title.

Navarro received a bye to the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and here, she faced Sorana Cirstea and found herself a set down. The American eventually won the second set 6-1 to force the match into a decider. She won a tightly-contested final set via a tiebreak to book her place in the third round of the WTA 1000 event.

Vekic has had a poor start to the 2025 season, winning just four out of 11 matches so far. Ahead of the BNP Paribas Open, the only tournament the Croat did not lose in her opening match was the Australian Open, where she reached the fourth round before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The 28-year-old entered Indian Wells after losing her opening match at the Merida Open. She received a bye to the second round and here, she faced Elina Avanesyan. Vekic cruised to a 3-0 lead in the opening set and while the Armenian showed some resistance, the Croat managed to take the opening set 6-3.

She started the second set brilliantly and led 4-0 at one point. While Avanesyan did try to fight back, she was unable to prevent Vekic from registering a 6-3, 6-3 win and reach the third round in Indian Wells.

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Emma Navarro vs Donna Vekic head-to-head

The only prior encounter between the two came in the second round of the 2023 Monterrey Open, with Vekic winning 6-3, 6-2.

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Emma Navarro vs Donna Vekic odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Emma Navarro	-250	-3.5 (-140)	Over 20.5 (-135)
Donna Vekic	+190	+3.5 (-102)	Under 20.5 (-110)

All odds sourced from BETMGM.

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Emma Navarro vs Donna Vekic prediction

Navarro will enter the match as the heavy favorite to win given her recent run of form. However, Vekic can make things tough for her when she gets going, so she cannot be written off.

Navarro won 37 out of 59 points on her first serve in her last match, serving two double faults. The 23-year-old does not have a powerful serve like a number of her compatriots but she has immense stamina and can run all around the court all day long. Navarro can always switch swiftly from defense to offense and will look to make the most out of the variety she possesses.

Vekic had a decent output on her first serve in her match against Avanesyan, winning 20 out of 28 points. However, the Croat produced eight double faults and needs to be a little careful as she cannot afford to gift too many points to a player of Navarro's quality and current form.

Vekic is a powerful hitter and will look to attack from the start of the match. That said, against Navarro, she also needs to be clever tactically and cannot overhit her shots. While the 28-year-old on her day can be a dangerous opponent, it is hard to see anyone other than Navarro win given the form she is in at present.

Pick: Navarro to win in straight sets.