Over the next eleven days, 96 of the world’s best female tennis players will go head to head for the Indian Wells 2023 title. As the second Masters 1000 tournament of the year on the WTA Tour, things will be as competitive as it gets in the California sun with plenty of women entering the event in excellent form.
Leading the charge will be three players in particular: Iga Swiatek (current World No. 1), Aryna Sabalenka (2023 Australian Open winner) and Barbora Krejcikova (2023 Dubai Open winner). Each of these women will feel they have a strong chance of winning the BNP Paribas Open this week and will be eager to make a deep run in a draw that contains 18 of the world’s top 20 women.
Bookmaker William Hill has all the best odds as we break down the most lucrative bets to make at the WTA Indian Wells Masters 1000 this week.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 8th, 11:00 A.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright winner odds from UK bookie William Hill, it’s something of a Groundhog Day. Yet again, Iga Swiatek is the clear betting favourite, standing head and shoulders above the rest of the pack at 2.50. Next, Aryna Sabalenka is more than triple the odds of Swiatek at 9.00 with Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova close by on 11.00 and 12.00. Rounding out the top five favourites is Elena Rybakina, who has winner odds of 17.00.
Though Iga Swiatek is definitely no longer the invincible force that she was through early and mid-2022 that saw her accrue a 37-match winning streak, she is still the dominant figure in women’s tennis right now. And it’s hard to see her not continuing that domination in Indian Wells. She’s 8-1 in her last nine matches, having won the Doha Open and made the final of the Dubai Open most recently.
As the World No. 1, Swiatek has a favourable draw too, avoiding any big names in her quarter. In fact, the defending champion would not be required to face either of the two other in-form favourites until the final. A bet on Swiatek to win at 2.50 is the smart money in Indian Wells.
Barbora Krejcikova or Aryna Sabalenka are the most likely options to stop Iga Swiatek in California last next week. Krejcikova will enter the tournament full of confidence, having just beaten Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 in the Dubai Open final. The Czech has had a patchy year so far and was 5-4 for the year before her run to claim the Dubai Open title in late February.
Aryna Sabalenka, on the other hand, is 13-1 so far in 2023. Her only loss came at the hands of Barbora Krejcikova in Dubai, prior to which she had been unbeaten, winning the Adelaide International 1 and Australian Open. If she is going to win in Indian Wells, she’ll likely need to do what she’s not been able to do so far this year and defeat Krejcikova.
