Looking back at IW 2025: Three Key Take-Aways from SoCal’s Semi-Slam

With the Sunshine Double (SD) completed and the Miami Open finally in our rear view mirror, it's time to look back at the Part 1 of the SD to take stock of what happened and look back at three key take-aways from SoCal's Semi-Slam.

Florida-Based Players Produce Solid Results On the Opposite Coast

This year, no Floridian raised the Indian Wells trophies, but all in all it was a strong showing from home grown talent on both the men’s and women’s side. While predictable faces like Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff didn’t do quite as well as they would have wanted, compatriots like Ben Shelton and Madison Keys made deep runs that kept viewers from home at the edge of their couches as they watched the action almost 3,000 miles away. And Florida-residing Russian Aryna Sabalenka played brilliant tennis throughout the two weeks, and reached the final for the second time. Let’s unpack some of the results that our home-state representatives produced. 

Above: Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells. Photo credit: Mauricio Paz for Florida Tennis.

The big-hitting Ben Shelton from Gainesville bombed an 150 mph serve early on in the tournament, and this clearly contributed to the results he achieved at the tournament. As the last American man standing, Shelton reached the quarterfinals before being stopped by eventual champion Jack Draper. Draper had previously defeated Americans Jenson Brooksby and Taylor Fritz, and despite an opposing crowd he continued the trend against Shelton. But before that happened, the 22-year-old who played a year of college tennis for the Florida Gators defeated Mariano Navone, 22nd seed Karen Khachanov, and 32nd seed Brandon Nakashima to claim his place in the quarters, proving once again that he is definitely a leading wolf in the strong pack of Americans and Floridians. 

Our very own Australian Open champion Madison Keys won her first match against Anastasia Potapova rather handily, but she nearly crashed out of the tournament in her next few matches against seeded players Elise Mertens and Donna Vekic. But the experienced Keys with a grand slam under her belt stayed focused and composed, surviving a tough tiebreaker that had Vekic nearly at match point. And in the quarterfinals against Belinda Bencic, Madi was back to her winning ways with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat over the Swiss who had defeated Coco Gauff the prior round. Despite the four positive matches that had fans believing she could raise her second big title of the season, Aryna Sabalenka had different plans. In a battle between a Miami masterclass and an Orlando opponent, a repeat of the AO final, Sabalenka delivered her best tennis to secure a final berth 6-0, 6-1. 

Despite leading her final challenge by a set in the championship match, our last Floridian wasn’t able to secure her first Indian Wells title. But a final is definitely a good result, and with tough competition and almost two hundred players competing across the singles draws, our state’s competitors delivered some great results to reflect on.

Alcaraz & Swiatek Battered by Inconsistency 

On Thursday evening of the second week of action at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, I sat watching Carlos Alcaraz absolutely obliterate Grigor Dimitrov. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Spaniard play better, even when I recount his stellar consecutive victories over Novak Djokovic in the past few Wimbledon finals. It got to a point where when Alcaraz made an error of any kind, the crowd moaned pitifully as Carlos shook his head slightly with a sly smile. He was playing A+ level tennis—and not even the 14th seed could build any sort of block in his bulldozer path. A similar statement can be made for Iga Swiatek who against Karoline Muchova produced the exact same result as Alcaraz—both won their matches 6-1, 6-1. What’s confusing is that just two days later, they were taken out by Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva respectively. Both of their opponents wound up lifting the trophy on championship Sunday as a side note. 

This is unfortunate for the duo who, just a year or two ago, dominated the sport. Let’s not forget that Iga Swiatek went on a 37 match win streak in 2022. Or that Carlos Alcaraz lifted six trophies in the 2023 season including Indian Wells. These results can be described by many words—but one word they can’t be described by is inconsistent. And looking at their progress throughout the two weeks under the SoCal sun, an adjective that tops the list is inconsistent. 

Above: Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells. Photo credit: Mauricio Paz for Florida Tennis.

In my opinion, in that round of 16 match Alcaraz played at an even higher level than a couple years ago. He’s grown and improved on all fronts, particularly on the serve which was a notable change at the start of the season. I can also say the same about Swiatek, who I think has done good efforts to adapt her game across all surfaces, not just clay where she feels most at home. So why have they become so hit and miss? Why are there no longer tournaments where I and many others can confidently say that we predict Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek win? 

Becoming a champion is hard. Period. Iga Swiatek burst onto the scene after Ash Barty retired and there was an empty spot to be filled. Carlos Alcaraz arrived at a time when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s careers were faltering and it was time for a “young guy” to make waves on the tour. Bestowed with raw talent and a nothing to lose attitude, both became dependent on winning. They drank it up like gasoline to a car. But the price of gasoline goes up, and so does the price of winning. Learning to be a champion, finding value in breaking records and truly pioneering the sport is a whole new frontier to face. It’s an adjustment, a sophomore slump after a successful freshman year. But once they adapt and figure out the gray areas in their game, and manage to compete at that A+ level every point, every game, every match, then there’s no telling what can be accomplished. 

What’s Next for the Indian Wells’ Champions?

With a 24-time grand slam champion, Olympic gold medalist, and 192 total players in the men’s and women’s draw, it’s safe to say that our eventual champions weren’t exactly expected to be the ones to carve their names into the record books. But tennis is always full of surprises, and both of the event’s winners played extremely good tennis during their time in the desert and are fully deserving of the accomplishment that they have attained. While it is always an exciting storyline to have a teenager and a man who made his ATP debut just four years ago as the champions, it also sparks worries. Too many times have we seen similar patterns, unlikely champions defying all odds and claiming the biggest titles of their careers but failing to maintain the same consistent level. There are plenty of recent examples I won’t mention, but you can definitely think of some that illustrate this instance perfectly. 

With two unlikely champions triumphing at the 1000-level event, alarm bells are ringing. Right now, we observe Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva as the next stars of the sport, these titles as the first steps in their illustrious career. And with two competitors as likeable as they are, fans around the world are cheering for their success as the season progresses. So what are important lessons to be learned from past cases that will be important for these two to keep in mind as they form perspectives over their respective career’s future? 

Above: A look at the Cali crowd at Indian Wells. Photo credit: Mauricio Paz for Florida Tennis.

The first thing to remember is that tennis is truly brutal. There are very few players who can consistently dominate the sport from career start to finish. The vast majority of players will barely even reach the ATP and WTA tours, and very few of the ones that do will taste the success that Draper and Andreeva have. Most players who are successful on the tours will play a few weeks of their best tennis in their careers, and that’s it. So it will be super hard for either of these two to maintain the level that they played at during Indian Wells throughout the season. 

While winning is an addiction, there’s merit in pacing. The expectations and pressure that come from winning an event of this stage just grow, and failure to reproduce the same results can have dire effects. An example of a player who struggled with this but has since found the sauce to success is Madison Keys. And she didn’t rush. After the 2017 US Open Final, she took eight more years to reach the same round at a major, and win it. While they will want to win more this season, as anybody should, there’s always room for improvement. Both will continue working on their games and growing into more developed players, which will serve them well in the future. Understanding the art of being a champion and winning tournaments like Indian Wells all the time is a whole different mindset, one that only the very best players develop. 

Obviously, there are even greater achievements awaiting Mirra Andreeva and Jack Draper in the future. But rushing greatness can have great costs. And with both players out of Miami in early rounds, they are already learning to face the hard results. All of this will be extremely beneficial to remember as they continue to improve their games and advance to the next level. 

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Written by Will Turvey.