Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka and more big-name upsets from Indian Wells so far

This year’s Indian Wells was expected to be extremely competitive, and so far it has more than delivered in that sense. 

In the absence of the world’s top two players in Ashleigh Barty and Barbora Krejcikova, the draw has been thrown wide open and there are multiple players with a realistic chance at lifting the title in California. 

Just two of the top five seeds remain after three rounds. These include world number four Iga Swiatek, who is continuing her fine start to the season –– as well as defending Indian Wells champion Paula Badosa. 

But with a number of top players already out of this year’s event, there have been plenty of shocks. Here are five huge names that have made an early exit from the tournament: 

With Krejcikova withdrawing after the initial draw had been made, Sabalenka was left as the highest-ranked player in the competition. 

However, Sabalenka has a dismal record in California, having never reached the quarter-finals, and this poor form continued this year. 

The 23-year-old has struggled with her serve this season and is prone to double-faulting fairly regularly. 

Indeed, in her Round of 64 match against Jasmine Paolini, the Belarusian served 10 double-faults and won no points on her second serve. 

Paolini eventually triumphed in three sets, meaning Sabalenka is still yet to win a title in 2022. 

In contrast to Sabalenka, Kontaveit has been in exceptional form since the end of last season and has a realistic chance of becoming world number one later this year. 

The Estonian was seeded fourth for the event and had been tipped to challenge for the title. 

Yet, her run was ended in the third round by Czech star Marketa Vondrousova. The 30th seed, who reached the French Open final in 2019, won in three