Mirra Andreeva, 17, rises to new career-high ranking of No. 6 following Indian Wells triumph

The BNP Paribas Open is one of the biggest tournaments on the calendar, and this year’s men’s and women’s champions have both been rewarded handsomely on the new rankings for their title runs.

Let’s start with the women’s champion, Mirra Andreeva.

Having set her previous career-high ranking of No. 9 just a few weeks ago after winning her first WTA 1000 title in Dubai, the 17-year-old almost halves her ranking today—from No. 11 to No. 6—after winning her second straight WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells.

And she conquered the desert in style, too, defeating the Top 2 players on the WTA rankings back-to-back in the last two rounds: No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semis and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

“Of course I feel a lot of adrenaline still. It feels amazing,” she said after her 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sabalenka on Sunday. “After the first set it was tough to come back, really, but I tried my best. Yeah, in the end, now I can really look back to that moment.

“Now I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”

Not only is Andreeva the youngest player in the WTA Top 10, she’s actually the youngest player in the entire WTA Top 140. You have to go all the way down to No. 145 to find anyone younger than her—American Iva Jovic, a younger 17-year-old by just over six months.

Meanwhile, Indian Wells men’s champion Jack Draper crashes the Top 10, literally halving his ranking from No. 14 to No. 7. That shatters his previous career-high of No. 12 from earlier this year.

He’s the first lefty in the ATP Top 10 in two years, since Rafael Nadal was No. 9 during the two weeks of Indian Wells in 2023 (the weeks of March 6th and 13th), and the highest-ranked lefty since Nadal was No. 6 just two weeks before that (the week of February 20th).

The Brit says he’ll have company soon, though.

“I’m sure Shelton will be in the Top 10 soon. I think he’s an incredible player,” he said after his semifinal win over Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells, which secured his Top 10 debut. “Obviously Shapovalov has been there. He’s back playing some really high-level stuff. And Humbert, as well. Still some really good left-handers about.”

Draper is also just the fifth British man to reach the Top 10 in ATP rankings history (after Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman, Andy Murray and Cam Norrie) and the fifth man born in the 2000s to do it, too (after Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz and Holger Rune).

There are a few more milestones on the new rankings this week, including 19-year-old American Nishesh Basavareddy making his Top 100 debut—though he fell in the first round of Indian Wells, the recent Auckland semifinalist still rises from No. 101 to No. 100.

Former world No. 4 Belinda Bencic breaks into the Top 50 for the first time since coming back to the tour as a mom, too, rising from No. 58 to No. 45 after her run to the quarterfinals of Indian Wells.

And last but not least, she may not have come away with the winner’s trophy, but Indian Wells finalist Sabalenka kicks off her 30th career week at No. 1. She’s the 16th woman to hit that number in WTA rankings history, and the second born in 1998 or later, after Swiatek.