Kokkinakis And Opelka Among Players To Withdraw From 2025 Indian Wells Open
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The 2025 Indian Wells Open will be without three more ATP players after further withdrawals, including from the 2022 Australian Open men's doubles champion Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Kokkinakis' last appearance was at the 2025 Australian Open. He lost an epic second round match in five sets against Jack Draper, who recently spoke about how working with a breathing coach during the off-season helped him.
Understandably, Kokkinakis struggled physically in his doubles match the day after that battle with Draper. He partnered with Nick Kyrgios, who had an injury. The pair eventually retired in the second set, but their home fans still applauded them for trying as long as they could.
The 28-year-old has not competed since the Australian Open. It was initially unclear what caused him to be on the sidelines for so long since most assumed his issues in the doubles match with Kyrgios were caused by fatigue.
However, Kokkinakis announced on his Instagram page that he recently underwent surgery for a pectoral injury. That problem has lingered for a while and he decided to try something to fix the issue.
"Been struggling for a little while with this… Probably my toughest challenge to date. I’ve been trying to find the answers to an ongoing Pec injury that I haven’t been able to fix. Let’s see how this goes. Thank you for all your ongoing support."
The impact of the surgery on Kokkinakis' injury will be unknown for a while. Hopefully, it will give him some relief, and he can return to the ATP Tour as soon as possible to entertain fans worldwide.
Reilly Opelka also withdrew from the Indian Wells Open. The huge-serving American's last match was at the Delray Beach Open on February 13th, where he lost to his compatriot Brandon Nakashima in three sets.
He also withdrew from the 2025 Mexican Open. No official reason was given for Opelka's decision not to play at those tournaments, raising concerns that it might be a recurrence of previous injuries.
Opelka missed almost two years due to severe wrist and hip injuries. The four-time ATP title winner returned in the middle of last year, overcoming concerns that his career might be over due to those physical problems.
However, Opelka has not been making headlines recently due to his comeback from those injuries. Instead, the American enraged doubles specialists and some fans by making harsh comments about doubles compared to singles.
The former world No. 17 stunningly called for doubles to be eliminated from the ATP Tour because it does not generate as much revenue and wastes resources. He also mocked the concept of doubles specialists, feeling they are really just failed singles players.
Opelka also sarcastically reacted to the US Open's radical mixed doubles changes. The event will be played over two days during fan week this year, and the American responded by saying he thought mixed doubles was always an exhibition.
Yoshihito Nishioka is the other player to withdraw. He pulled out of the Delray Beach Open before his scheduled round of 16 match against Miomir Kecmanovic because of an injury and has not recovered from that problem.
Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Indian Wells Open entry list earlier this month due to being suspended until May 4th after settling his doping case with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
