John Isner picks his ‘overwhelming favorite’ to win the Indian Wells title as he completely disagrees with Steve Johnson

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The 2025 Indian Wells tournament is well underway as the stars of the ATP Tour battle it out for supremacy in the Californian desert.

Indian Wells is often described as the ‘fifth Grand Slam’ and for good reason, as players travel from all over the world to compete for the title.

Some of those players have already tasted defeat, as the draw opens up at the year’s first Masters 1000 tournament.

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios lost his opening match at the event, as he retired against Dutch star Botic van de Zandschulp down 6-7, 0-3.

Van de Zandschulp’s countryman pulled off another shock in the second round, as Tallon Griekspoor beat Alexander Zverev, knocking the number one seed out of the tournament.

Casper Ruud was another big name to fall, as he lost to home favorite Marcos Giron in three sets, 6-7, 6-3, 2-6.

There is one big name yet to play, however, who one former American star thinks is the ‘overwhelming favorite’ for the Indian Wells title.

John Isner says Carlos Alcaraz is the ‘overwhelming favorite’ to win Indian Wells in 2025

Speaking on the Nothing Major podcast, former world number 21 Steve Johnson previewed the tournament in California.

“For the first time in a long time, I think there’s 20-30 guys who could conceivably win this tournament which is kind of outlandish to think over the last 15-20 years that the number could be that high,” he said.

“It’s exciting because everybody should wake up tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, whenever they play their first round, thinking ‘I have a chance to win this tournament if I play well, and do all the right things’.

“It is going to be fun for the game of tennis.

“There’s a lot of young exciting guys that I think Indian Wells and the fans will really enjoy watching on the outside courts.”

2012 Indian Wells finalist John Isner disagreed with his co-host, as he named the player he thinks will bring home the trophy.

“I completely disagree with all of you guys, I think [Carlos] Alcaraz is the overwhelming favorite to win this event,” he said.

“He’s won the tournament in back to back years, the surface of the tournament used to be on favors him considerably, I hear there’s a bit of a surface change this year.

“I think Alcaraz is the overwhelming favorite, he seems to be so comfortable there, he was so dominant last year.

“Again, the surface has changed, maybe he’s not as big of a favorite as he would’ve been on the old surface, but I think he’s the number one guy to beat and I think he’s going to win the tournament again.

“That’s my call.”

Alcaraz won Indian Wells in 2024, and 2023, entering the 2025 tournament having not lost at the event in 1,085 days.

Arguably his most impressive victory came in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, as Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in three sets.

Carlos Alcaraz’s route to a third-straight Indian Wells title

The Spaniard is now the top seed left in the draw following Zverev’s first-round exit, as he looks the heavy favorite to win Indian Wells for a third year in a row.

He won’t have things all his own way, however, as Alcaraz could potentially face several tough tests on his way to the title.

Carlos Alcaraz’s projected route to the title

• 2R – Quentin Halys
• 3R – Denis Shapovalov [27]
• 4R – Grigor Dimitrov [14]
• QF – Novak Djokovic [6]
• SF – Taylor Fritz [3]
• F – Daniil Medvedev [5]

An Australian Open rematch with Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals would certainly get fans excited, as the 21-year-old searches for revenge after coming up short in Melbourne earlier this year.

He’ll first focus on his second-round match with Quentin Halys, who impressed at last month’s Dubai Tennis Championships.

Alcaraz takes on Halys for a place in the third round on Saturday, March 8.