Both Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner entered Indian Wells with something missing from their resumes: a title in the desert and a first trophy of 2026. Each arrived under scrutiny after painful losses in Melbourne and left with answers.

Sabalenka had been No. 1 for 81 weeks and sat far ahead in the rankings, but a string of final-round setbacks had lingered after the Australian Open loss to Elena Rybakina. The situation was similar for Sinner, who had been ranked one or two since mid-2024 and had come through Melbourne with his own tough moments. “I’m so done losing these big finals. Aryna Sabalenka”

Both players praised Indian Wells on arrival. Sabalenka said she was “super happy to be back in Tennis Paradise, it’s super beautiful.” Sinner called it a “special place,” and said his “preparation is going really well.” The faster courts suited their aggressive games; neither dropped a set on the run to the final, and both sounded determined to take the trophy. “I want to make sure that I get it, I get the trophy,” Sabalenka said. “You know, I’m so done losing these big finals.” “We tried to come here very early,” Sinner said. “I knew that this was a tournament I haven’t won, so I wanted to come here and prepare it in the best possible way, as professional as possible.”

Sabalenka needed that resolve in a three-hour final with Rybakina. She fought back from an early break and a set down, found momentum after a smashed racquet, and closed the decider in a tiebreak with a final unreturnable serve. “I’m super happy that in those last three points of the match, I was able to pull out really great tennis and get the win,” Sabalenka said. “With so many finals that I’ve lost, they also teach me a lot of things that basically the game is never done till it’s done,” she added. “So if it’s a match point, you still have a chance to get back into the game.”

Sinner endured blistering heat — temperatures near 97 — in a tight match with Daniil Medvedev. The two played without a break for two hours and 24 games, and Sinner edged both tiebreaks. “Well done,” said his impressed coach, Darren Cahill, before Sinner closed the set with a service winner. “It feels amazing,” Sinner said. “Great achievement.” “I felt very well prepared, so I was not having big issues with the weather and with the heat, which is very positive for me. But look, it’s all part of the process we are trying to do and becoming the best possible athlete.”

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.

Jannik Sinner reached a milestone at the BNP Paribas Open, advancing to his first opportunity to play for the tournament trophy with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Alexander Zverev. Sinner did not drop serve in the match and moved into his 10th career ATP Masters 1000 final.

Speaking to Steve Weissman and Prakash Amritraj after the win, the world No. 2 outlined how he will balance immediate recovery, match preparation and a personal interest off court. “Yes and no. For me, we’re all quite in shape to play a couple days in a row. You always go on court in any case. There is the tension. In the final days, it’s always very different.”

He added a lighter, personal note about a packed evening schedule. “It is also an important night, because there’s also the Formula 1. But it is at midnight, so it’s not ideal. So I might not watch it. Yesterday, there was the sprint race. I always try to find a way to see what I want to see.”

Sinner also spent time with Grammy Award winner Dua Lipa and her fiancé, actor Callum Turner, after his semifinal. At the time of his media session his opponent for Sunday’s final had been decided elsewhere on the draw.

With Medvedev handing Carlos Alcaraz his first defeat of the 2026 season, Sinner offered his assessment of Daniil Medvedev’s form: “He’s back to a very, very high level. Very big serve, I feel like. he’s returning very well. Very, very deep,” he said. “Everyone is trying to be slightly more aggressive. Sascha today tried to be more aggressive. He didn’t play his best tennis today, I feel like, but everyone is trying to push. And I think Daniil has found again a good balance on court, winning a title in Dubai, coming here, making again great results.”

Sinner will prepare to face Medvedev on what is forecast to be another hot day, aiming to convert this first shot at the BNP Paribas Open title into a championship.