Sloane Stephens Is in California and Ready for Competition at the BNP Paribas Open

The pro tennis player will kickoff her tournament run tomorrow at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Sloane Stephens.Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images

Sloane Stephens is gearing up for another round of competition. It’s only the beginning of March, but the American professional has already competed in a handful of tournaments in 2024. She has declared herself locked in this season, and she’s living up to that declaration, too.

On March 7, she will set foot on the courts in Indian Wells, Calif. for the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, also known as the Indian Wells Open. It will mark her 13th appearance in the tournament since turning pro. The Florida native will take on Egyptian tennis player Mayar Sherif in the Round of 128 at 2 p.m. ET.

By all appearances, Stephens is ready. She headed to the Southern California city a few days earlier for a few days of practice and a photo shoot day. In an Instagram reel that she shared to her account on March 5, Stephens shared behind the scenes footage of her past few days in Indian Wells. In addition to some prep work on the hard courts, the athlete has been enjoying good food, mobility work and photo shoots for her sponsors.

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“Shoot day & Practice at @bnpparibasopen,” she captioned the video. “It gets a little hectic but we did it 🙌🏾.”

In the past two years, Stephens has lost in the first round of the tournament. This year, she’s hoping for a deeper run—and perhaps a return to her 2014 form, which brought her to the quarterfinals in Indian Wells.