Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova claimed the women’s doubles crown at the BNP Paribas Open, with Townsend dedicating the victory to her son on his fifth birthday.

The pair defeated Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 7-6(4), 6-4 for their first win in three meetings against the Kazakh-Serb duo this year. It was Townsend’s third career WTA 1000 title and her second alongside Siniakova.

The 29-year-old admitted the decision to play on her son’s birthday was emotional. “I went to Kat, and I was like, ‘I need a hug.’ I was crying in the locker room because I was sad that I was missing my son’s birthday. And she was, like, ‘OK, we do this for AJ.’”

Townsend’s strong start to 2026 has included a run to her first WTA singles final in Austin two weeks ago, where she spoke openly about “doing things [her] way.” That momentum carried into Indian Wells as she and Siniakova lifted the trophy.

She framed the choice to compete as a deliberate sacrifice. “It was a sacrifice to be here today,” Townsend continued. “But I’m chasing my dreams, and I’m really happy to be able to come out with a win, to able to call him and and show him the trophy and tell him that it was worth it for me not to not be there. But that’s part of the sacrifice of being a mother and a parent.”

Townsend also described how a FaceTime with her son eased the sting of missing the party, catching him “in the thick of his party” and seeing him “amped up on cake.” “I’m probably glad I’m not there, because he’s a hyper five-year-old amped up on sugar. He’s having fun,” she smiled.

The result added a significant WTA 1000 title to Townsend’s season and reinforced the effectiveness of the Townsend-Siniakova partnership on one of the tour’s biggest stages.

Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli combined to win the BNP Paribas Open Mixed Doubles Invitational, defeating Gabriela Dabrowski and Lloyd Glasspool, 6-3, 2-6 [10-7]. The final, played inside Stadium 3 on a hot Saturday afternoon, required a match tiebreak and featured a decisive forehand return winner from Cobolli that earned an immediate mini break.

The partnership reunited a pairing that first appeared together for Team Europe at December’s World Tennis Continental Cup exhibition in Shenzhen. Bencic had invited Cobolli to team up again in Indian Wells and the duo responded by taking their first three matches in straight sets before the competitive title match.

Both players praised the dynamic they found on court. “I can learn a lot of things from Flavio. It was really nice that he was warming up with me every day. I can see what he can do on the court,” said Bencic. “Just so talented. So I really hope he can become Top 10 very soon.

“This tournament, I thought he was absolutely on fire. He was just doing everything.”

Cobolli reflected on the contrast between Bencic’s on-court focus and her off-court demeanor. “I saw what she does outside the court. She’s another person. She’s really kind. She’s also a mom. So when you see her on court, is completely different. She change the attitude, she change her face and the eyes are more on focus.

“So I miss that part on my game. Sometimes I cannot stay focused for a long time, but with her, it’s another thing. I think I stayed focused for all the four matches.”

There was lighthearted banter about family and chemistry. “She’s always nice to me. Not like her daughter,” the Italian said with a smile Saturday. “I think he’s winning over her heart very slowly. She’s very skeptical, and I tell her not to talk to strange men,” laughed Bencic. “Then I think in two days she will love him, because he’s so good with kids.”

During the presentation they opened their gift bags and Cobolli discovered a mini version of the event’s crystal trophy by Baccarat. He later added, “Now she have a lot of requests. So I’m ready to stay with her (until) the end of her career.” After a quick trophy photo shoot the pair walked off to discuss potential team dinner plans. “Wow,” she responded. “We are focused on singles most of the time, but now I think the mixed competitions are done very nicely. Sometimes US Open, like, pre-tournaments. I think there is one in Rome now, so tournaments are really picking up on it and making it an interesting event, which I love. Yeah, I would love to play. Why not?”

Elena Rybakina defeated world No. 9 Elina Svitolina in the semifinals of Indian Wells, 7-5, 6-4, advancing to the WTA 1000 final.

The victory continued a dominant recent stretch for the Kazakh: she has now won 12 straight matches against Top 10 opponents, a run that stretches back to mid-October 2025. Her most recent loss to a Top 10 player came in early October, when she fell to No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals in Wuhan.

Sabalenka will be Rybakina’s opponent in Sunday’s final after Sabalenka defeated Linda Noskova in the first semifinal, 6-3, 6-4.

Rybakina entered the match with a 3-3 head-to-head against Svitolina. Svitolina had recent edges in their meetings: she won their last match in Madrid on clay last year and had prevailed in their only previous hard-court meeting, the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Svitolina started the semifinal strongly, holding and breaking early to lead 2-0, but Rybakina immediately broke back. After a sequence of exchanged holds, Rybakina produced a decisive run, winning seven consecutive games to turn a 4-5 deficit in the first set into a 7-5, 4-0 advantage.

Following a pair of holds, Rybakina moved 5-1 ahead. Svitolina mounted a late resistance, saving a match point to hold for 5-2 and then saving another match point while breaking Rybakina to narrow the score to 5-3 before holding to make it 5-4.

The comeback ended there. Rybakina closed the match with a near-flawless service game, delivering four winners—two off the forehand, one off the backhand, and finishing with a backhand volley winner into the open court on her third and final match point.

ELENA RYBAKINA VS TOP 10 PLAYERS SINCE MID-OCTOBER 2025: 12-0

Photo credit: © 2026 Robert Prange