2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem and two-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud have signed up to play doubles together at the Indian Wells Masters. Thiem, 29, and 24-year-old Ruud will be making their debut as a pair in the desert.
Both Thiem and Ruud are primarily focused on singles and just occasionally play doubles. But in the Sunshine Double, tennis fans will have a chance to see two big names sharing the same side of the court.
Singles players currently signed up for doubles at Indian Wells.
Entry deadline is Monday.
#4 Ruud / #6 (P) Thiem
#5 Rublev / #13 Khachanov
#8 Auger-Aliassime / #26 Korda
#10 Hurkacz / #28 Dimitrov
#9 Rune / #42 Shelton
#14 Sinner / #60 Sonego
#33 Kecmanovic / #50 Bublik — Parsa (@Parsa_Nemati) February 18, 2023
This past week in Buenos Aires Thiem played his first doubles tournament of the season as he and Diego Schwartzman were beaten in their opener.
On the other side, Ruud hasn’t appeared in any doubles tournaments so far in 2023.
Thiem is returning to Indian Wells for the first time since 2019
In 2019, Thiem upset Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final to lift his first title in the desert.
The following year, the Indian Wells Masters was canceled because of the pandemic. When the tournament returned in 2021, Thiem was dealing with a wrist injury and he didn’t play. Last year, Thiem again skipped Indian Wells because he wasn’t ready to return from a wrist injury.
Now that Thiem’s wrist is again healthy, the Indian Wells organizers decided to award the Austrian with a main draw wildcard into the tournament. “Hello Indian Wells! Today I received the great message that I will get a wild card for the 2023 BNP Paribas Open.
It’s unbelievable news for me as it’s a tournament I love and it’s going to be the first time I played there since I won the tournament in 2019. So looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you!” Thiem recently announced.
Thiem, who made his Indian Wells debut in 2014, is set to make his seventh main draw appearance in the desert. It remains to be seen how well can Thiem do in his Indian Wells return.
