Singles stars jump into doubles draws in Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—It's nothing new that the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells is a place players want to be for as long as possible. It's often referred to as the "Fifth Grand Slam" and has the added incentive of offering a $1 million bonus to any player that can win both the singles and doubles events.

But even before that, the Indian Wells doubles draw has been packed with singles talent. This year, on the women's side, there's Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina, Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens, Kiki Bertens and Donna Vekic, Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova.

The men's doubles draw has Stan Wawrinka and Lucas Pouille, Kei Nishikori and Maximo Gonzalez, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Wesley Koolhof, Steve Johnson and Dominic Thiem, Milos Raonic and Jeremy Chardy and Novak Djokovic and Fabio Fognini.

Serena and Venus Williams were entered in the draw, but pulled out. They would have been playing together for the first time since Roland Garros, and for the first time in Indian Wells since 1999.

The Williamses are playing in their first event since the Australian Open, where Venus lost in the third round and Serena fell in the quarterfinals.

Last year, they faced off in the third round in Indian Wells, with older sister Venus winning in straight sets. It was Serena's first event back after maternity leave, and Serena would later beat Venus at the US Open.

Luckily, this year they're not in the same part of the draw. Venus is unseeded and plays Andrea Petkovic in her opener, with No. 5 seed Petra Kvitova awaiting her if she wins.

Serena is the No. 10 seed and has a bye, but she's in a loaded section of the draw. She'll possibly play Victoria Azarenka in her first match, and the next seed in her section is Garbine Muguruza.