Desert Rains Wash Away Jessica Pegula, Marcos Giron, and Tommy Paul’s Hopes At BNP Paribas Open

Tuesday’s desert rains created significant tournament delays and changing conditions at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.  Three of the last eight Americans in the women’s and men’s singles draw played and lost.

It rains 14 days a year at Indian Wells. Must be the 14 days that the BNP Paribas Open is there

I swear the last 3 years now at Indian Wells we’ve had at least 3-4 days impacted with rain. In the middle of the desert. pic.twitter.com/EUQxSEGPnW

— Tennis Updates (@TennisUpdates25) March 7, 2025

Jessica Pegula

Despite winning the first set Jessica Pegula had no answers for Elina Svitolina for the long haul.  As Pegula’s service woes and unforced errors mounted, so did her frustration.  The Austin Open winner had not lost a match in over two weeks before falling to Svitolina 7-5, 1-6, 2-6..

Marcos Giron

The 31-year-old Californian, Marcos Giron, weathered multiple rain delays and the power of Arthur Fils’s incredible shotmaking to push the match to a third and deciding set.  Fans who stayed the course over the night cheered loudly for Giron, but Fils took the third set.  The final score was 2-6, 6-2, 3-6.

Tommy Paul

Tommy Paul took to the court late against Daniil Medvedev who always draws late matches at whatever tournament he is in.  Unfortunately, this was not much of a match as Paul won just four games losing, 4-6, 0-6.

While these three Americans made an early exit, Taylor Fritz, Brandon Nakashima, Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff, and Madison Keys are in action on Wednesday vying for quarterfinal spots.  Nakashima plays Shelton so the best case scenario is four Americans, two men and two women, can advance to the quarterfinals.

If Gauff and Keys win their matches against Belinda Bencic and Donna Vekic respectively, the two American women will meet in the quarterfinals.

American women and men are trying to sweep the BNP Paribas Open singles titles for the first time since 2001 when Serena Williams and Andre Agassi won.  Serena is the last American to win this tournament nearly 25 years ago; whereas hometown favorite Taylor Fritz defeated Rafael Nadal in 2022 to win this title.

In women’s doubles, the top-ranked team of Katerina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend are playing for a semifinal spot on Wednesday. Siniakova last won the BNP Paribas Open doubles title in 2023 with former partner Barbora Krejcikova.