Davenport’s son Leach enjoyed his time at Indian Wells: ‘It feels surreal’ | ATP Tour

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Davenport’s son Leach enjoyed his time at Indian Wells: ‘It feels surreal’

College standout Leach shares favorite memories of Indian Wells

March 02, 2026

Lindsay Davenport won the Indian Wells singles title in 1997 and 2000, before her son, Jagger Leach, was born. Now it’s Leach’s chance to shine at the BNP Paribas Open.

The 18-year-old, a freshman at Stanford University, is competing in a qualifying ATP Tour event for the first time at the season opener of the ATP Masters 1000. It’s a fitting place considering that the Californian has spent almost every March of his life in Indian Wells, from the days following his mother, who coached Madison Keys, to a minor tournament at the same venue.

“Some of my best memories are from when I was seven years old and running around and trying to find open practice courts with my dad,” Leach said of his father, former champion Jonathan Leach. “When my mother was training Madison, we could go to the practice courts, and if she finished practice seven minutes early, my father and I would jump and play for those seven minutes, and then walk around.

“If we see another champion finish 10 minutes before the end of practice, we’ll try to beat those 10 minutes and just hang around. And that was really exciting. I have good memories of that.”

Leach has pictures of Indian Wells from before he was a teenager: on the court, eating with Keys and on the courts. This tournament was a big part of his childhood.

“When I was younger, I had access to the players’ lounge when they had Pop-A-Shot games,” Leach said. “I would hang out there and have lunch and play Pop-A-Shot and just be there. It was a lot of fun. Eating there, I thought, was amazing.”

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The American rose to No. 4 in the ITF Junior Rankings and was the youngest player to qualify for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator. But for now, Leach is focused on playing college tennis at Stanford. On Sunday, the Cardinal defeated Duke in North Carolina and Leach then flew to California for the biggest opportunity of his mini-tennis tour.

“The experience has been amazing. I love my teammates and my coaches here at Stanford. I love the campus and the campus life. And really, one of the most incredible things, being part of a team. That’s been so incredible,” Leach said. “Usually in tennis, you’re alone on the court. And when you go to tournaments and travel around, you can have friends and people you enjoy spending time with, but at the end of the day, they’re your competitors and nobody’s cheering you on and encouraging you and wanting you to succeed.

“I think one thing about being a part of a college team is, I have nine other players who really want me to succeed and push me every day to try to get better.”

Leach, an undercard, will have plenty of local support on Monday evening when he takes on 14th seed Tomas Barrios Vera in the first round of qualifying. The young American has been around high-level tennis his whole life, but this is different.

“It’s really cool. And it’s an amazing thing that I’m going to be excited about and hopefully I can continue to improve, and I can get to the point where I can go back and play these tournaments and it’s not as scary and I’m surprised,” Leach said. “That’s the ultimate goal. But right now it’s scary. It’s so cool. They seem like heroes. Sinner and Alcaraz, their tennis is in a different world. And thankfully, I don’t have to worry about them in the qualies, but being around them and being in the same lobby and knowing that I’m going to play in the same tournament, I feel like I’m playing in a surreal tournament.

“It would be amazing to get a chance to play with one of them one day.”