Day 1 at the BNP Paribas Open serves up three first-round matches that deserve attention. Jenson Brooksby and Alexei Popyrin meet in Stadium 4 in what should be a lively opening encounter. Both played in the UAE last week and, as the preview noted, “presumably they were able to evade the flight ban and make it out over the weekend.” Brooksby is No. 41 and Popyrin No. 44. Popyrin brings the bigger, heavier-spinning serve and a lethal forehand; Brooksby offers superior point construction and a mix of chops and sidespin aimed at making the 6’5″ Australian stretch and bend. A California native, Brooksby has reached the round of 16 at Indian Wells twice and should be comfortable in the desert conditions. Winner: Brooksby

A throwback rivalry resurfaces when Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Denis Shapovalov. The pair met four times between 2018 and 2020, when Tsitsipas was already in the Top 5 and Shapovalov was trending toward the Top 10. Two of those early matches were decided by 7-6 sets: 7-6 in the third in Miami in 2019 and 7-6, 7-6 at the ATP Cup in 2020. Shapovalov won both of those close matches and still leads the head-to-head 4-2. He is 4-0 on hard courts against Tsitsipas and won their most recent meeting a year ago in Miami, 6-2, 6-4. Now each arrives with reduced momentum: Shapovalov is No. 39, Tsitsipas No. 43, and neither is seeded. Tsitsipas is 9-5 this season; Shapovalov is 4-4 and reached the semifinals in Dallas. Both employ a one-handed backhand and an attacking brand of tennis that remains entertaining. Winner: Shapovalov

Sloane Stephens returns to the main draw on a wild card. Stephens, 32 and ranked 780th, missed most of last year with a stress fracture in her right foot. Stephens says her career keeps getting “weirder and weirder.” She last won a title in 2024 but is only 13-13 in the desert with a single quarterfinal in 13 attempts. Her opponent, 24-year-old Colombian Osorio, is 10-5 this year, owns a 125-level title, stands 5’7″, and beat Naomi Osaka here last year 6-4, 6-4 in a night match. Osorio is ranked more than 700 spots higher than Stephens at the moment. Winner: Osorio

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner top the list of tennis nominees for the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards after contrasting but equally dominant 2025 campaigns. The ATP world No. 1 Alcaraz and world No. 2 Sinner are both in contention for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award following seasons that produced multiple major titles and season-defining achievements.

Alcaraz captured Roland Garros and the US Open and clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking. Sinner lifted trophies at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the ATP Finals in Turin. The winner will be announced April 20 at Madrid’s Cibeles Palace. The annual ceremony, which celebrates the world’s greatest athletes and recognizes “the inspirational power of sport and its ability to change lives,” takes place during the Mutua Madrid Open.

Other Sportsman of the Year nominees include Ousmane Dembele, Mondo Duplantis, Marc Marquez and Tadej Pogacar. Tennis has a storied history in the Laureus awards; the only previous tennis players to earn Sportsman of the Year honors are Roger Federer (2005–2008, 2018), Rafael Nadal (2011, 2021) and Novak Djokovic (2012–2015, 2016, 2019, 2024), a group often referred to as the sport’s “Big Three.” Men’s tennis players remain the most decorated in that category, with 12 total wins compared with Formula One and athletics, which have five apiece.

On the women’s side, WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka leads the Sportswoman of the Year nominees after clinching her fourth Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2025 and finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She is nominated alongside Aitana Bonmati, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Katie Ledecky and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Four former WTA world No. 1s have previously won the award: Jennifer Capriati (2002), Serena Williams (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), Justine Henin (2008) and Naomi Osaka (2021). Williams is tied with Simone Biles for the most wins at four.

Younger and returning players were also acknowledged. Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca received a Breakthrough of the Year nomination after main-draw wins at all four Grand Slams, a first Top 10 victory over Andrey Rublev and titles in Buenos Aires (ATP 250) and Basel (ATP 500). Amanda Anisimova earned a Comeback of the Year nomination after reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, two years after announcing an indefinite mental health break from the sport.

Goran Ivanisevic has started a new coaching trial with 21-year-old Arthur Fils, a brief alliance that arrived at the Qatar Open in late February. The pairing was described by Fils in measured praise: “a hell of a champion,” adding, “Maybe it’s best for me to have his experience as a coach, and a player.”

The 54-year-old 2001 Wimbledon champion and one-time ATP Tour career leader in ace production arrives after two short, public coaching experiments. He worked briefly at the end of 2024 with Elena Rybakina; that experiment ended before the Australian Open amid a dispute tied to the suspension of her coach, Stefan Vukov. In May of 2025 Ivanisevic signed on to guide Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose split from his father/coach Apostolo left him searching for direction. Tsitsipas, once as high as No. 3, had slipped outside the ATP top twenty in part due to injury.

The Tsitsipas relationship collapsed after Wimbledon, where Tsitsipas retired during his first-round Wimbledon clash with Valenin Royer. Frustrated, Ivanisevic was unusually candid. “I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life,” he told SportsKlub. “Me, at my age and with this bad knee, I’m three times in better shape than him. I’m not sure what he was doing in the previous 12 months, but his current shape is very poor.” Tsitsipas later announced the split on Instagram: “Working with Goran Ivanisevic was brief but an intense experience and a truly valuable chapter in my journey. . . I have only respect for Goran — not just for what he’s achieved in tennis, but also for who he is as a person. I wish him nothing but the very best moving forward.”

Ivanisevic’s résumé includes guiding Novak Djokovic to his record 23rd Grand Slam title in Paris in 2023 and a three-year partnership with Marin Cilic that culminated in Cilic’s 2014 U.S. Open triumph. Observers point to Fils’ combination of serve, forehand and athleticism as fertile ground for Ivanisevic’s coaching. “I think Goran can do some good work with Fils,” Jimmy Arias told me recently. “The Fils serve was one of the things that needed work. And I do think he’s [Ivanisevic] is probably very good at that. And then, if he’s that into the ‘I’m 54 and I’m in better shape than him’ mentality he’s going to work Fils hard. It’s all good things.”

Fils has seven wins over Top 10 opponents and reached a career-high ranking of No. 14 in spring 2025. He suffered a season-ending stress fracture at Roland Garros, lost roughly 15 pounds during recovery, returned to reach the Qatar Open final (l. to Carlos Alcaraz) and later withdrew from Dubai with a hip injury. If his health holds, the trial with Ivanisevic could be consequential.