Can Serena Williams win her first Indian Wells title since 2001?
The world No.10-ranked American is the title favourite according to Game Insight Group (GIG) data. Williams has a 22.3 per cent chance of winning Indian Wells this year, ahead of world No.1 and defending champion Naomi Osaka at 15.7 per cent.
Williams is in a strong third quarter of the draw, headlined by fourth seed Sloane Stephens. It makes for a particularly tough draw for Stephens, but it won’t be easy for Williams either. The 37-year-old, who made the third round at Indian Wells last year in her tour-level return from maternity leave, faces a potential second-round meeting and 2016 final rematch with Victoria Azarenka.
QUIZ: Can you pick these player legs?
Women’s singles championship prediction (pre-tournament)
| Player | Title chance |
| Serena Williams | 22.3% |
| Naomi Osaka | 15.7% |
| Karolina Pliskova | 14.2% |
| Ash Barty | 11% |
| Petra Kvitova | 10.2% |
| Simona Halep | 9.6% |
| Elina Svitolina | 3.9% |
| Aryna Sabalenka | 2.1% |
| Kiki Bertens | 2% |
| Madison Keys | 2% |
| Player | Quarter | (- more difficult/+ easy) |
| Naomi Osaka | 1 | -0.5% |
| Petra Kvitova | 2 | +2.1% |
| Sloane Stephens | 3 | -5.5% |
| Simona Halep | 4 | +3.95% |
Twitter: Get the latest updates from Game Insight Group
The predictions are put together using Elo ratings, an alternative to more traditional rankings aimed at giving a greater insight into a player’s performance ability.
They factor in every professional match a player has played in their career, taking into account the level of the opponent, the difficulty of the match and whether it took place at tour level or at a Grand Slam.
When adjusted for specific surfaces, they still take into account all of a player’s matches but weigh those on the chosen surface more heavily.
23 August 2016
You can recognise your favourite tennis players when they're on the court, but what about ... More
16 February 2016
Caroline Wozniacki has dared to bare pretty much everything for the latest edition of the ... More
30 December 2019
Nick Kyrgios’ first-round win over Andrey Rublev at last year’s Kremlin Cup in Moscow ... More
28 March 2017
Grunting. It’s a conversation - or argument - that has dogged tennis for a number of yea... More
© 2020 Tennis Australia