Blake Krass takes you through his best bets and predictions for the first day of action at the 2026 Indian Wells Open.
The Indian Wells Open is one of the best tennis tournaments of the year. The Round of 128 begins on Wednesday, March 4, and continues through to Thursday, March 5.
These are my Indian Wells Open best bets to target on DraftKings Sportsbook for the Round of 128.
2026 Indian Wells Open Best Bets
Ethan Quinn vs. Reilly Opelka: Quinn ML (-140)
Ethan Quinn is a rising name in the sport. He is currently the No. 73 player in the latest ATP rankings, but he is only 21 years old. Quinn played college tennis at the University of Georgia rather than turning professional out of high school. Quinn didn’t play a full season as a professional in 2024 and didn’t start to look comfortable at this level until 2025. Last year, Quinn made the third round at Roland Garros, won a match at Wimbledon and made the main draw of seven ATP 1000 tournaments. However, it was at this year’s Australian Open that Quinn showed he could become a real threat. He upset Tallon Griekspoor in the first round and Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
Last year, Ethan Quinn had to win two qualifier matches to get into the main draw at Indian Wells. This year, he is an automatic qualifier and will face fellow American Reilly Opelka for the first time. Opelka is on the downslide of his career and has not had a great start to the 2026 season. He is down to No. 68 in the ATP ranking after being as high as No. 17 at one point in his career. Quinn is the player to back in this match. He is a young player gaining in confidence, while Opelka’s career is fading away. Quinn should be appreciative of this big opportunity that he has to win a match at Indian Wells and come with his best stuff.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Denis Shapovalov: Shapovalov ML (+110)
This is an exciting match between World No. 39 Denis Shapovalov and World No. 43 Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas was once the No. 3 player in the world and made a major final as recently as 2023. However, Tsitsipas’s game has gone off a cliff over the last two years. At the last seven Grand Slams, Tsitsipas has not made it past the second round. So far this year, he lost his first match in Dubai, was upset in Rotterdam, lost his first match in Adelaide and was upset in the second round of the Australian Open by the No. 89 player in the world, Aleksandar Vukic. It has become hard to trust Tsitsipas to compete against any somewhat serious player.
My money is on Denis Shapovalov in this match. While his best days are also behind him, Shapovalov has had a slightly higher upside in recent months. At the Dallas Open in February, he defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to get to the semifinals. In that semifinal, he put up a great fight, pushing to a third set tiebreaker against eventual champion Ben Shelton. Shapovalov is also 4-2 in his career against Tsitsipas, including winning the most recent matchup. Shapovalov’s game just seems a bit more trustworthy coming into Indian Wells, so I will gladly back him as an underdog.
Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse: Ruse ML (-134)
Ajla Tomljanovic got as high as No. 32 in the WTA rankings at one point in her career, but she has dropped all the way to World No. 85. After making three major quarterfinals in 2021 and 2022, she has not made it out of the second round since. She has struggled to get anything going this year, getting upset by lesser players in several tournaments heading into Indian Wells. Last year at this tournament, she lost the first set in her Round of 128 match and then retired with an injury. At this stage of her career, it’s hard to see Tomljanovic winning against any serious opponent in a big tournament.
Look no further than the 2026 Australian Open for why Elena-Gabriela Ruse is the player to target in this match. Ruse and Tomljanovic just faced off in the second round, where Ruse got the win in two sets. Ruse pulled off an upset over Dayana Yastremska in the opening round before taking down Tomljanovic in the second round. She eventually fell to World No. 8 Mirra Andreeva. Ruse is not a world-class player by any means, but her game is much more steady than Tomljanovic’s at this point in their careers. When there is evidence as recent as six weeks ago for who the better player is, I’ll back Elena-Gabriela Ruse to beat Ajla Tomljanovic again at Indian Wells.