Bianca Andreescu has spent the opening months of 2026 reshaping her game and her schedule in search of the player who burst onto the scene in 2019. Her doubles ranking of 160 currently sits five places above her singles ranking, a jarring statistic for a former US Open, Canadian Open and Indian Wells champion who has not captured a WTA title since that breakout season. She also lost eight of her last 11 matches in 2025.

“I’m trying to, I guess, reclaim that dangerous, fearless Bianca that can really stand a chance against anyone, and I think I’m getting there,” Andreescu said. “I just feel that, before, I was focusing too much on, you know, trying to go back to 2019, so living in the past.

“And now…it’s like recreating the new Bianca, what is it? 7.0.”

Ranked 227 at the start of the year, Andreescu entered a W35 in Bradenton, Fla., as the No. 1 seed, won five matches to collect $4,860 and 35 WTA points, then reached a semifinal at a second W35 before winning a W75 in Vero Beach to close a 13-1 January. “Going back to those levels, was a decision obviously that wasn’t easy, right? In a way, I guess I’m going the Agassi route,” she said to Brad Gilbert. “I think what’s amazing is I finally got some match rhythm, which I haven’t had over the last few years. I got as many matches as I did in those three weeks, like all of last year.”

After a main-draw match in Austin, Andreescu accepted a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open. If she advances, she could meet Coco Gauff. “It’ll be interesting to see how my level right now, with what I’m implementing and what I’m working on, can show face against someone like that,” she said. “I’m very excited.”

On the men’s side, Sebastian Korda has also altered course. The 25-year-old carries three career titles and a 2023 Australian Open quarterfinal on his résumé, but struggles with injury and inconsistency followed. “I would say since coming back on tour after my leg injury, it was definitely…the darkest time in my tennis career,” he said. “I was just getting a lot of anxiety when I was coming back from court, so disconnected from playing matches.”

Korda dropped down to play a Challenger, reached the San Diego final, beat Michael Zheng and Frances Tiafoe in Dallas and then won Delray Beach, defeating Alex Michelsen, Casper Ruud, Flavio Cobolli and Tommy Paul. Unseeded at Indian Wells, he opens against Francisco Comesana and has new coach Ryan Harrison at his side. “I’m feeling the best physically that I’ve felt the last couple of years,” he said. “Hopefully it stays that way.”

The 2026 BNP Paribas Open women’s draw sets world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka into a demanding top quarter that also includes Naomi Osaka, Victoria Mboko and Amanda Anisimova.

Sabalenka returns to competition for the first time since the Australian Open and is projected to meet No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals, a potential rematch of the 2025 US Open final. Before that, Anisimova is slated to face No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko in the fourth round while Sabalenka opened the draw against former champion Naomi Osaka.

Also in the top section is No. 18 seed Iva Jovic, the projected third-round opponent for Osaka. Jovic arrives at Indian Wells off her breakthrough Australian Open run, where she made her maiden major quarterfinal.

Sabalenka shares the top half of the draw with No. 3 seed Coco Gauff. She has not played since finishing runner-up to Elena Rybakina at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. Sabalenka withdrew from both Middle East WTA 1000 events at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, but the Indian Wells Tennis Garden has been a productive venue for her in past years, with two finals appearances, including last year.

The bottom half features Mirra Andreeva, who reached the 2025 BNP Paribas Open final. Seeded eighth this year, Andreeva is projected to occupy a quarter that includes No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek, a player Andreeva beat en route to her first Indian Wells title. Andreeva is also projected to meet No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina in the fourth round, a rematch of their Australian Open meeting won by Svitolina in straight sets.

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina is the No. 3 seed and is projected to face No. 15 seed Madison Keys in a fourth-round match; Keys reached the BNP Paribas Open semifinals last year. Rybakina reached the quarterfinals in Doha after Melbourne, lost to Mboko in three sets and retired in her second-round match in Dubai.

Notable wild cards include Venus Williams and 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu, each scheduled to face qualifiers in their opening rounds.

Aryna Sabalenka has expanded the inner circle that travels with her on tour, adding a four-legged companion ahead of the BNP Paribas Open. The world No. 1, who travels with long-time coach Anton Dubrov and physiotherapist Jason Stacy, revealed a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Ash to her Instagram audience.

The brown-and-white pup appears in a series of snapshots cuddling Sabalenka and her boyfriend Georgios Frangulis in a car and on-site at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The newest member of “Team Tiger” drew an immediate reaction online: less than an hour after the post went live, it had already gathered more than 50,000 likes from Sabalenka’s nearly 5 million followers.

Ash joins a familiar touring routine around one of the sport’s biggest early-season events. The arrival of Sabalenka’s puppy coincides with the return of another young player who brought a dog to the same site last year. Defending champion Mirra Andreeva, who beat Sabalenka in three thrilling sets in last year’s final, is back at the tournament with Rassy at her side.

Andreeva’s relationship with her pet was the result of a long-anticipated promise: the 18-year-old’s mother had first pledged a dog as a reward for reaching the Top 20 in 2024. The promise came to fruition in November after nearly two years, and Andreeva has since traveled with Rassy following her breakthrough at the event.

The presence of players’ pets has become a small but notable element of life on tour, offering moments of levity and companionship amid the demands of competition. For Sabalenka, Ash is the latest addition to a support group that already functions like family. For Andreeva, Rassy remains a tangible reminder of a goal achieved and a milestone that followed her run at the same tournament last year.