How much prize money did Novak Djokovic, Leylah Fernandez, Amanda Anisimova, Felix Auger-Aliassime & others earn despite Indian Wells 2025 2R exit?

The exodus of top players from the BNP Paribas Open 2025 at Indian Wells continued on Saturday, March 8. The biggest name to exit in the second round was 24-time Major champion Novak Djokovic. Top 10 players Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev also bit the dust.

Other notable names to be sent packing in the second round include Felix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Fernandez, Amanda Anisimova, Jelena Ostapenko, Ons Jabeur, and Sebastian Korda. All players who lost in the second round of singles received $37,650 in prize money.

Djokovic was shown the door by lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp, who beat him 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. His run at Indian Wells came to an end at the hands of a lucky loser for the second year in a row. He lost to Luca Nardi in the third round here a year ago.

Top seed Zverev was toppled by another Dutch player, Tallon Griekspoor. The German's form has taken a hit ever since he fell to Jannik Sinner in the final of the Australian Open. Anisimova, who won the season's first WTA 1000 tournament in Doha, hasn't won a match since then. She lost to Belinda Bencic in three sets.

Jenson Brooksby was responsible for Auger-Aliassime's exit, while his compatriot Fernandez went down fighting against Jaqueline Cristian. Rublev was knocked out by Matteo Arnaldi and he hasn't won a match since winning the Qatar Open a few weeks ago. Veteran Gael Monfils beat Korda in two tight sets, while Ruud lost to Marcos Giron.

The prize money that players received for losing in the second round has decreased compared to a year ago. Players made $42,000 after a second-round exit from Indian Wells last year compared to this year's $37,650.

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The prize money at Indian Wells 2025 has been reshuffled to inflate the winner's earnings

Alexander Zverev was the top seed at Indian Wells 2025. (Photo: Getty)

The tournament organizers of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells adjusted the prize money of the 2024 edition in such a way to benefit the lower ranked players. The champions' payout was reduced from the previous edition and recalibrated to increase the prize money for the first and second rounds.

The winners in 2023 received $1,262,220, while the 2024 champions earned $1,100,000. The reduction resulted in a massive spike with respect to the prize money up for grabs in the first couple of rounds. Players who lost in the first and second rounds in 2023 made $18,660 and $30,885 respectively.

The prize money for the first couple of rounds increased to $30,050 and $42,000 for the 2024 edition. The organizers have reverted to their original formula of increasing the prize money for the winners this year at the expense of reducing the money available across the first two rounds.

This year's champions will earn $1,201,125, while players made $25,375 and $37,650 for losing in the first and second rounds respectively. There has been a lot of talk about pay parity on the tour, and this is bound to give rise to another round of discussions.