Venus Williams to face qualifier in first round after Indian Wells draw

[p]The 45-year-old, who has lost her last eight matches, heads back to 'Tennis Paradise' in search of form and a first victory since July.[/p][p]With qualification still taking place at Indian Wells, her opponent is yet to be determined.[/p][p]The women's draw sees each of the 32 seeded players given byes through the first round, with world number one and top seed, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a], likely to play wildcard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parks-alycia/Uwhd6a1e/"]Alycia Parks[/a] in the second round.[/p][embed guid="98ffd74e-b082-4e1f-b68d-3cac8ff09e10" url="https://x.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN/status/2028594283629129943" social-type="twitter" /][p]If she is to win her first crown in California, the Belarusian will likely have to see off seeded players [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osaka-naomi/MDM4BKiA/"]Naomi Osaka[/a], champion in 2018, as well as young star [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mboko-victoria/AqVez8TJ/"]Victoria Mboko[/a], to reach the semis.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andreeva-mirra/lI6fOOat/"]Mirra Andreeva[/a], who defeated Sabalenka in last year's final, could face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stearns-peyton/YsJXLo1O/"]Peyton Stearns[/a] in the second round, before potential meetings with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-leylah-annie/8EI3pJOd/"]Leylah Fernandez[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-elina/jyngIesG/"]Elina Svitolina[/a] to reach the last eight.[/p][p]Meanwhile, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Iga Swiatek[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Jessica Pegula[/a] have been put on the other side of the bracket, with the Australian Open champion, Rybakina, projected to play Pegula in the quarter-finals.[/p][p]On the men's side of the draw, five-time champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/djokovic-novak/AZg49Et9/"]Novak Djokovic[/a] is the third seed behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Carlos Alcaraz[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sinner-jannik/6HdC3z4H/"]Jannik Sinner[/a] for the tournament.[/p][p]Alcaraz has potentially the hardest second-round opponent in the shape of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dimitrov-grigor/SQgEEKh4/"]Grigor Dimitrov[/a]. The pair met at Indian Wells in 2025, with the Spaniard winning their third-round match 6-1, 6-1.[/p][embed guid="e4c898f0-4ba1-4770-845a-3861a557d7b3" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2028624114454569125" social-type="twitter" /][p]Defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/draper-jack/SWxNhpmK/"]Jack Draper[/a] will face either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marozsan-fabian/I1mux0lj/"]Fabian Marozsan[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bautista-agut-roberto/riOJC5jb/"]Roberto Bautista Agut[/a] in the second round, and if he makes it through to the fourth round, he faces a potential contest with Djokovic.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/korda-sebastian/SYklCTPO/"]Sebastian Korda[/a] - a home favourite, and an ATP title winner in recent weeks - must go through the first round, where he will take on Argentina's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/comesana-francisco/SxKK0RUD/"]Francesco Comesana[/a]. The winner of that clash will face sixth seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-minaur-alex/EZgZ9Xfh/"]Alex De Minaur[/a] in the second round.[/p][p]Click here for the full [a href="https://www.flashscore.com/tennis/atp-singles/indian-wells/draw/#/MquSQJ1k/draw/"]men's draw[/a] and the potential pathways for your favourite player, and here for the [a href="flashscore.com/tennis/wta-singles/indian-wells/draw/"]women's draw.[/a][/p]