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Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently picked his top three favorites for the 2025 Indian Wells Masters, which is the first Masters 1000 event of the ATP calendar. While two of his picks are former champions, one of them is yet to reach the final of the coveted tournament, often called by many as the fifth Grand Slam.
The tennis fraternity has its eyes set on the first Masters 1000 of the year, the Indian Wells Open. Amid the excitement, Naomi Osaka's coach Mouratoglou picked his three favorites who could win the title. He also noted that the absence of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will allow more players to fancy their chances.
"With Sinner out of the BNP Paribas Open, there are many players that have a good chance to win it this year," he said via an Instagram post.
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Serena Williams' ex-coach picked two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top seed Alexander Zverev as his top two picks. And though he admitted picking the third player was hard to choose, Mouratoglou picked 2022 champion and American No. 1 Taylor Fritz, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the final to win the event.
"The first two are quite easy. For sure, Alcaraz, he won last year, number three in the world, coming back to being in a good shape. Zverev, number two, more and more solid. We feel that he can win any Masters 1000. The third one is not as easy. I would say Taylor Fritz. His ranking, he won the tournament already in the past and playing in the US for American players, we know that they are so dangerous on their home soil," Serena Williams' ex-caoch said.
"So, I would say this BNP Paribas Open is very open."
All these players are seeded and have received a bye into the second round. Mouratoglou also picked two dark horses he felt could shock the tennis world at the event.
Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou picks his dark horses for the 2025 Indian Wells Masters
Continuing his thoughts, Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou also picked two dark horses, capable of shocking the tennis world at the tennis paradise. The French coach picked rising stars Ben Shelton and Tomas Machac to be the underdogs at the Masters 1000, owing to their skill sets and form.
"I have two dark horses that come to my mind. The first one is Shelton, I think this guy can play incredible tennis. I think the conditions are good for him also. The ball bounces very high in Indian Wells, and with his serve, I think he's going to be very annoying for the guys."
"And the second, I want to name is Tomas Machac, who just won UTS. I mean, this guy has been playing incredibly well those last months. He can do something big."
Interestingly, both players are on opposite halves of the draw, meaning they can only face each other in the title clash.
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