Qualifying play for the BNP Paribas Open is set to conclude Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with the 24 winners receiving spots in the main draws.
Zachary Svajda, a two-time U.S. Tennis Association Boys’ 18 national champion, will seek his sixth berth in an ATP Tour main draw when he faces Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in the second match on the Stadium 5 Court.
The 20-year-old from San Diego defeated former USC and Orange High School standout Steve Johnson, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), Monday, closing out the match with his seventh ace.
Svajda was 227th on the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings released Monday, one spot lower than his career best, achieved Feb. 27 after he reached the final of the Challenger Tour tournament in Rome, Georgia.
The 33-year-old Johnson is 137th on the ATP rankings, his lowest since Feb. 17, 2014.
Tabilo defeated Australian Christopher O’Connell, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, Monday. O’Connell is ranked 86th and was seeded fifth in the qualifying draw.
The 25-year-old Tabilo has dropped from a career-best ranking of 64th, on July 25, to 187th. He is 0-2 in ATP Tour singles main draw matches in 2023. Tabilo was born in Toronto and represented Canada throughout his junior career, peaking at 29th in the junior rankings in 2015.
This will be the first meeting between Svajda and Tabilo.
Svajda received a wild card into qualifying because he wasn’t ranked high enough, as did American Tennys Sandgren, who advanced when the top-seeded player in qualifying, Serbian Dusan Lajovic, retired when he was trailing 6-2, 4-1, in a night match.
Sandgren will face Australian Rinky Hijikata in the third match on the Stadium 3 Court. Hijikata advanced when Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves retired when he was trailing 6-4, 4-0.
The 31-year-old Sandgren — who grew up in Tennessee, where he still resides — has not played in the singles main draw of an ATP Tour event since February 2022 and is ranked 224th after reaching a career-high 41st in 2019. He is named after his great-grandfather and not the sport he plays.
The 22-year-old Hijikata is seeded 16th in qualifying and ranked 130th, four spots lower than his career best, which came on Feb. 13. He defeated Yannick Hanfmann of Germany in the first round of the Australian Open, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in January.
Hijikata teamed with fellow Australian Jason Kubler to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title, defeating Hugo Nys of Monaco and Jan Zielinski of Poland, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in the final.
This will be the first meeting between Sandgren and Hijikata.
Hungarian Dalma Galfi, the top-seeded woman, will face Katie Swan of Great Britain in the first match on the Stadium 6 Court.
Galfi had four aces and no double faults in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Croatian Ana Konjuh, who had six double faults and no aces in the 62-minute match.
The 24-year-old Galfi is 80th on the Women’s Tennis Association rankings. She reached the third round of the U.S. Open and second round of Wimbledon last year.
Swan defeated Léolia Jeanjean of France, 6-2, 6-1, Monday. The 23-year-old Swan is ranked 156th.
Tuesday’s losers will receive $9,440 while the winners will earn at least $18,660.
Tickets are $10. Gates open at 10 a.m. with play beginning at 11 a.m.
Men’s and women’s main draw play is set to begin Wednesday.
The fourth edition of the Eisenhower Cup will be played at 7:15 p.m. with a mixed doubles format for the first time in the $200,000 winner-take-all event. Scheduled participants are:
— Iga Swiatek, who is first in the WTA singles rankings, and will team with her Polish countryman Hubert Hurkacz, 11th on the ATP singles rankings;
— Ons Jabeur, fourth on the WTA singles rankings, who will team with Casper Ruud, fourth on the ATP singles rankings;
— Taylor Fritz, fifth on the ATP singles rankings; who will team with 2023 Australian Open women’s singles champion Aryna Sabalenka;
— Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open women’s singles champion, who will team with Cameron Norrie, the 2021 BNP Paribas Open men’s singles champion;
— Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open women’s singles runner-up, who will team with Felix Auger-Aliassime, 10th in the ATP singles rankings;
— Jessica Pegula, third on the WTA singles rankings, who will team with Tommy Paul, a 2023 Australian Open men’s singles semifinalist
— Stefanos Tsitsipas, third on the ATP singles rankings, who will team with Maria Sakkari, seventh on the WTA singles rankings; and
— Stan Wawrinka, a three-time singles Grand Slam champion, who will team with Belinda Bencic, ninth on the WTA singles rankings.
The Eisenhower Cup will be played under the Tie Break Tens format of first to ten-point tie break matches, with an eight-team single-elimination draw.
The Eisenhower Cup will begin at 7:15 p.m. with gates opening to Stadium 2 at 5:45 p.m. Tickets begin at $50. Parking is free. All proceeds go to local charities, including The Champions Volunteer Foundation.