The 2026 BNP Paribas Open advances to its main draw on Friday, March 6, with top seeds like Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Mboko taking the court for the first time. Sabalenka returns after the Australian Open final, while Mboko makes her debut as a Top 10 player. Coco Gauff also begins her campaign amid a packed schedule of WTA and ATP matches.
The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells enters a pivotal phase on Friday, following qualifiers and early rounds. Four Top 10 women in singles are scheduled, highlighting the WTA Tour's leading talents.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces Himeno Sakatsume on Stadium 1 not before 1:00 p.m. local time. This marks Sabalenka's first match since losing the 2025 Australian Open final to Mirra Andreeva. She started 2026 with a title in Brisbane and skipped the February Middle East events to stay rested, aiming for her first Indian Wells title to bolster her rankings lead.
At 11 a.m. on Stadium 2, 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, now World No. 10 after reaching the Doha final last month, plays Kimberly Birrell in her Indian Wells main-draw debut. Mboko partners with Andreeva, last year's singles champion at age 17, in doubles against Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang not before 3:00 p.m. on Stadium 6. Andreeva seeks to defend her title, a feat not achieved by a woman since Martina Navratilova in 1991.
World No. 4 Coco Gauff meets Kamilla Rakhimova on Stadium 1 after Sabalenka's match. Gauff looks to build form following a challenging Middle East swing. A win could lead to a third-round clash with No. 31 seed Alexandra Eala, who has a first-round bye and faces Dayana Yastremska that evening on Stadium 3. Eala, a rising Filipino player, entered the Top 40 recently and reached the Miami semifinals last year.
The day features matches across multiple stadiums starting at 11 a.m., blending singles and doubles action for both WTA and ATP players.
