With main-draw play set to begin Wednesday, March 4, attention turns to the standout contenders at the 2026 BNP Paribas Open in Tennis Paradise. A panel of analysts handicapped the field and singled out several players likely to generate the most interest as the Sunshine Swing gets under way.

Victoria Mboko. She just broke into the Top 10 and has already reached two WTA 1000 finals, winning my home tournament up in Canada last summer. Heading into Indian Wells, I truly believe the sky’s the limit!

Carlos Alcaraz. Carlos is, by far, the most exciting player in tennis right now. He is also the best shot maker and arguably has the best attitude in the history of tennis.

(I also have a wager with my friends that I can get invited to dinner or lunch with him and his crew at least one time this year—so picking him just might give me another opportunity at making that happen!)

Aryna Sabalenka. The world No. 1 played a great Australian Open but took a tough loss in the final to Elena Rybakina and hasn’t played since, skipping both Middle East tournaments in Doha and Dubai. I’m interested to see how she’s holding up emotionally as much as with her tennis.

Learner Tien. This young American made a meteoric rise into the Top 20 in his first full year on tour. How will he handle the occasion of playing in his de facto hometown tournament as a seed?

Those selections set the stage for a compelling fortnight in Indian Wells, where established stars and rising talents will test form and resilience on a big-court stage.

The Eisenhower Cup, a Tie Break Tens event that has become a mixed doubles showcase at the BNP Paribas Open, returns a week from Tuesday inside Stadium 2 with an eight-team field mixing familiar duos and new pairings.

Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz are back to defend the title they won last year, when the pair shared $200,000. Fritz arrives as a proven mixed-doubles performer; he was one half of a winning pairing with Aryna Sabalenka in 2023.

Emma Navarro and Ben Shelton will team up for the third consecutive year. The American duo captured the event in their debut two years ago. Also reuniting, and appearing together in the California desert for the first time, are Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud. Team Ruudtek reached the final in their debut at the 2025 US Open, winning three matches on the way to a runner-up finish in New York.

Several partnerships from the 2024 edition have been refreshed. Jessica Pegula and Tommy Paul return as a team, as do Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Tommy Paul narrowly missed winning the event 12 months ago when he partnered Madison Keys.

Amanda Anisimova, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, has a new partner after playing with Daniil Medvedev the previous year. She will pair with Andrey Rublev, who previously participated in 2024 alongside Maria Sakkari. Medvedev is also back in the field with a new teammate: defending BNP Paribas Open women’s champion Mirra Andreeva, a pairing that follows their appearance together at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

One experienced doubles competitor, Jasmine Paolini, will form an all-Italian tandem with Matteo Berrettini. Paolini played with Lorenzo Musetti in last year’s event.

The Eisenhower Cup remains a compact, spectator-friendly addition to the Indian Wells schedule, offering quick, high-energy mixed doubles matches and a lineup that blends repeat contenders with newly formed teams.

Jessica Pegula has been named chair of a newly formed, 13-member WTA panel, the Tour Architecture Council, tasked with reviewing the women’s calendar and the tour rules that govern mandatory participation. Pegula, a six-year veteran of the Player Council and the No. 4 seed who went on to win Dubai, now leads a group charged with preparing recommendations for the WTA Board.

The issue that prompted the council is familiar: top players withdrawing from mandatory events. At the Dubai WTA 1000, five of the game’s leading draws, led by Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, withdrew before the tournament began, and many more later withdrew or retired from matches. “I can’t knock any player that wants to make that decision for themselves,” Pegula told The National in Dubai, referring to the rule-defying withdrawals. Seeded No. 4, Pegula added, “At the end of the day, we play a lot, we play a full schedule, we play 10, 11 months out of the year sometimes. And I think right now we’re living in an age where the priority is always staying healthy mentally and physically, and you never know where a player is at with that.”

The debate sharpened after Dubai tournament director Salah Tahlak suggested current sanctions on withdrawals were insufficient and proposed stripping ranking points as a penalty. Within days, WTA chair Valerie Camillo published a notice announcing formation of the TAC, which will develop “actionable recommendations for consideration by the WTA Board that can be implemented as soon as the 2027 season. The Council will focus first on areas where the WTA has direct authority to drive change, while also identifying longer-term opportunities that will require broader coordination across the sport.”

Observers say the problem is structural. The WTA operates two mandatory 1000-level tournaments in the Middle East, Doha and Dubai, held in succession beginning a week after the Australian Open. Those events and others paid to secure 1000-grade status, helping the WTA build a roster of 10 top-tier 1000 events, one more than the ATP. Doha finalists Victoria Mboko and Karolina Muchova were among the six stars who opted out before or during Dubai.

“Let’s get all the issues on the table, which I assume this group is going to try to do, and let’s address them and try and come up with a better mouse trap, because the current mouse trap is not catching the mice. So it’s not doing anything. It’s not keeping anybody. It’s not serving the tournaments well, it’s not serving the players well.” Pam Shriver

The council will also confront how back-to-back 1000s, extended majors and a prize-money arms race shape player choices. If Pegula’s role is extensive, it will test how a Top 5 player balances leadership duties and on-court goals. “If her role will be to just run the meeting, I think it could be a great experience,” Shriver said. “But obviously it’s really hard to do the [actual] work if you’re juggling and trying to maintain Top 5 status.”