Sabalenka and Mboko headline a high-stakes Friday
The 2026 BNP Paribas Open enters its subsequent gear because the opening-round mud settles and the world’s high seeds lastly take the courtroom. Following two days of high-stakes qualifiers and veteran battles, the Friday schedule marks the arrival of the tour’s heavyweights on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, with 4 of the world’s Top 10 ladies in singles motion.
Sabalenka returns to motion for the primary time because the Australian Open last
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka returns to the courtroom for the primary time because the Australian Open, headlining Friday’s afternoon session on Stadium 1 towards Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume. Sabalenka, who opened her 2026 marketing campaign with a title run in Brisbane, arrives within the desert well-rested after being elected to bypass the Middle East swing in February. After falling simply quick within the 2025 last to Mirra Andreeva, the highest seed is seeking to leverage her contemporary legs to safe a first Indian Wells crown and lengthen her lead on the high of the rankings.
Teenage stars Mboko and Andreeva again within the highlight
The teenage takeover continues as Victoria Mboko enters the event as a Top 10 seed for the primary time, going through Kimberly Birrell at 11 am native time. This marks her first look within the Indian Wells main-draw for the 19-year-old Canadian, whose rise to World No. 10 was solidified by a last look in Doha final month. Meanwhile, Andreeva — who took down the sector final yr at simply 17 — begins her Indian Wells marketing campaign on the doubles courtroom Friday alongside Mboko. Andreeva enters the week seeking to change into the primary girl since Martina Navratilova in 1991 to efficiently defend the singles crown.
Gauff searches for rhythm forward of a potential showdown with Eala
World No. 4 Coco Gauff takes to the primary stage towards Kamilla Rakhimova, aiming to sharpen her kind after a testing run within the Middle East. A victory for Gauff might arrange a extremely anticipated third-round encounter with the No. 31 seed and rising star Alexandra Eala. The Filipino expertise, who reached the Miami semifinals final yr and not too long ago broke into the Top 40, acquired a first-round bye and will face Dayana Yastremska within the night session on Stadium 3.
Indian Wells Order of Play – Friday, March 6
Stadium 1: Start 11 am
ATP – Matteo Berrettini vs. [4] Alexander Zverev
Not Before 1:00 PM: WTA – [1] Aryna Sabalenka vs. Himeno Sakatsume
WTA – [4] Coco Gauff vs. Kamilla Rakhimova
Not Before 6:00 PM: ATP – [Q] Dalibor Svrcina vs. [2] Jannik Sinner
Not Before 8:00 PM: WTA – Anna Blinkova vs. [6] Amanda Anisimova
Stadium 2: Start 11 am
WTA – [10] Victoria Mboko vs. Kimberly Birrell
ATP – [8] Ben Shelton vs. Reilly Opelka
ATP – Jenson Brooksby vs. [21] Frances Tiafoe
Not Before 6:00 PM: WTA – Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva vs. [16] Naomi Osaka
ATP – Zizou Bergs vs. [23] Tommy Paul
Stadium 3: Start 11 am
ATP – Adam Walton vs. [25] Learner Tien
ATP – [5] Lorenzo Musetti vs. Marton Fucsovics
ATP – [WC] Gael Monfils vs. [9] Felix Auger-Aliassime
Not Before 6:00 PM: WTA – [18] Iva Jovic vs. Camila Osorio
WTA – Dayana Yastremska vs. [31] Alexandra Eala
Stadium 4: Start 11 am
WTA – [25] Emma Raducanu vs. Anastasia Zakharova
WTA – [21] Diana Shnaider vs. Sorana Cirstea
WTA – Anastasia Potapova vs. [7] Jasmine Paolini
Not Before 3:00 PM: ATP – [29] Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Denis Shapovalov
ATP – Marcos Giron vs. [12] Jakub Mensik
Stadium 5: Start 11 am
WTA – Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs. [14] Linda Noskova
WTA – [7] C. Bucsa / N. Melichar-Martinez vs. D. Jurak Schreiber / G. Olmos
Not Before 2:00 PM: ATP – [Q] Dino Prizmic vs. [30] Arthur Fils
WTA – [3] Okay. Siniakova / T. Townsend vs. E. Raducanu / E. Ruse
WTA – B. Bencic / S. Cirstea vs. Y. Xu / Z. Yang
Stadium 6: Start 11:00 am
ATP – [15] Flavio Cobolli vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
WTA – [5] A. Danilina / A. Krunic vs. S. Stephens / D. Vekic
ATP – [28] Brandon Nakashima vs. Camilo Ugo Carabelli
Not Before 3:00 PM: WTA – M. Andreeva / V. Mboko vs. [4] E. Mertens / S. Zhang
ATP – [18] A. Davidovich Fokina vs. [WC] Zachary Svajda
Stadium 7: Start 11 am
WTA – Yulia Putintseva vs. [17] Clara Tauson
WTA – [30] Xinyu Wang vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
WTA – Jaqueline Cristian vs. [29] Maya Joint
WTA – A. Panova / L. Siegemund vs. [6] A. Muhammad / E. Routliffe
Stadium 9: Start 11 am
WTA – [11] Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Talia Gibson
WTA – Zeynep Sonmez vs. [23] Anna Kalinskaya
WTA – C. McNally / L. Samsonova vs. E. Alexandrova / S. Kenin
