Indian Wells Playing Faster? Not So Fast!

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday March 3, 2025

The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells has a new surface, provided by Laykold this year. But is it any different than the old one?

Much has been made about the tournament’s decision to switch to a new provider, with many curious about why the decision was made and what it means for the future of the tournament with the type of notoriously slow playing conditions that allow players like Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz thrive.

Truth be told, the players don’t seem to know the difference.

“They’re a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?” Aryna Sabalenka said on Tuesday. “No, but it feels good, feels good so far. I’ll tell you later after my first match. I hope I’ll still like it.”

“The court is faster, right? I don’t know,” said two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, when asked.

“Laykold will bring a new dynamic to the event, ensuring that the ATP and WTA players have the optimal playing environment to be the best they can be,” Laykold said in a statement that was published on the tournament’s website. “Laykold’s courts deliver 10 x greater consistency than the accepted industry standard. By fine-tuning court speed to within 0.5 points, Laykold’s scientists and expert installers will bring the most consistent courts in tennis history to California’s ‘fifth major’. This will ensure an exciting, high-level, action-packed BNP Paribas Open in 2025.”

“I feel that it’s not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce a little bit lower,” 2023 champion Elena Rybakina said. “The past few days were, like, very windy and a lot of sun came, so it’s also a bit different, the bounce. But I think the court’s still nice.”

Brad Stine, coach of Tommy Paul, who was on Stadium 1 for a two-hour practice with Alexander Zverev on Monday, says he noticed little difference – if any.

“I think the court is playing pretty dang similar to what it was last year,” he said. “It was pretty slow last year. We practiced yesterday with Sascha on Stadium 1 and it was bouncing really high in there.”

Some believe that Laykold is trying to homogenize playing surfaces around the world. They complain because they find it more interesting to have many different surface speeds, which allows many different types of players to thrive. They make a good point, but they may be pointing fingers at the wrong culprit. It appears that Laykold did not speed up the courts at Indian Wells at all.

Daniil Medvedev, who complained about the courts during each of his runs to the final, in 2023 and 2024, says they may actually be closer. “It’s a disgrace to sport, this court,” Medvedev said during a particularly trying moment during a match with Alexander Zverev in the desert in 2023. The Russian would like the court to be twice as fast.

He may be complaining more this year…

“I like Indian Wells, I even like the courts now, but they seem to be almost slower than before, very slow,” he said on Tuesday during media day. “I played two days, and they seemed very, very slow, so let’s see how it plays during the tournament. And I didn’t see the difference. Like, today I accidentally, my racquet fell down from my hand, I didn’t throw it (smiling), really, and from the low height, and the grip was completely, you know, torn, just because of how rough the court is, and when it’s rough it’s slow.”