INDIAN WELLS — Check out Tuesday’s smashing lineup on the BNP Paribas Open.
It’s 4 Round of 16 matches from the draw’s prime half, that includes 4 Top 10 seeds — two of them taking part in one another: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova, No. 7 Jasmine Paolini and No. 10 Victoria Mboko.
Oh, and did we point out a blockbuster match between two four-time Grand Slam singles champions?
The high quality of the desert discipline is nearly unparalleled. This version of Indian Wells is the primary non-Grand Slam to characteristic each one of many Top 35-ranked gamers on WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz in 4 a long time.
And the tennis-savvy followers right here have responded. Friday set a single-day attendance document (58,828) that was instantly erased by Saturday’s crowd of 60,781. Fold in Sunday’s gate of 56,655 and you’ve got a new weekend of 176,264. That’s a lot of sunblock.
Youth, that historically slippery slope, has been served. Half of those gamers — Alexandra Eala, Linda Noskova, Talia Gibson and Mboko — are 21 or youthful. Gibson, a 21-year-old Australian, is the one qualifier left within the draw.
One extra word: Three of those 4 matches have by no means occurred earlier than — one other nice motive to dial into Tuesday’s motion.
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 16 Naomi Osaka
Head-to-head: 1-0, Osaka (2018 US Open fourth spherical).
This potential Round of 16 matchup jumped off the draw sheet earlier than the event started.
Sabalenka has received her first two matches right here in no-fuss straight units, whereas Osaka was prolonged in her third-round match towards Camila Osorio earlier than profitable 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
The matchup was nonetheless hypothetical after Sabalenka defeated Jaqueline Cristian.
“I would like to play her,” Sabalenka mentioned, seeming to imply it. “It can be for positive a style present at first. Then a loopy match. She’s a nice participant. Came again after being pregnant. Incredible form. I’ve been watching her matches, actually admire her.
“I think we played only once, isn’t it?”
That is right. Osaka took that US Open contest eight years in the past in three units. Both gamers had been 20 years outdated.
“I’ll have a chance to get a revenge, hopefully,” Sabalenka mentioned.
Said Osaka, “For me, it’s really exciting. I have watched her, I don’t want to say `grow over the years,’ because I think she’s only a little bit younger than me and I feel like an old person. But yeah, I have watched her grow over the years.”
Eight years is a very long time, however Osaka remembers a lot from that match.
“Just because I felt like in that tournament, that was the hardest match for me,” Osaka mentioned. “I keep in mind considering, like, we’re each going to get very far. So, yeah, clearly I used to be proper.
“It was definitely a really difficult match. It’s really cool to see how far we both have come.”
No. 6 Amanda Anisimova vs. No. 10 Victoria Mboko
Head-to-head: 0-0
Anisimova was a lights-out 6-1, 6-1 winner over No. 25 Emma Raducanu on Sunday. It was over in 52 minutes. This was the shape that carried Anisimova to back-to-back Grand Slam finals final yr.
After shedding her opening set right here (7-5, to Anna Blinkova), Anisimova has dialed in and misplaced all of three video games within the final 4 units.
“It’s more so just a mindset that I try to go into and things I try and focus on and really commit to what I’m doing,” Anisimova defined. “I think that’s been the biggest shift for me. I think that’s a big thing for myself and just trusting myself.”
Mboko is already 13-4 this yr after reaching the ultimate in Doha, the place she beat Jelena Ostapenko, Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva earlier than falling to Karolina Muchova. Mboko was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over No. 23 Anna Kalinskaya within the third spherical.
No. 7 Jasmine Paolini vs. qualifier Talia Gibson
Head-to-head: 0-0.
Gibson, the final qualifier left within the draw, has loved a dramatic rise this yr. The 21-year-old from Australia started the season at No. 118 within the PIF WTA Rankings, however three wins right here have vaulted her to No. 85. She’d zoom to No. 67 with a win.
She has already produced terrific victories over No. 11 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and No. 17 Clara Tauson. The 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 win over Tauson on Sunday went greater than two-and-a-half hours
Gibson has received 14 of 19 matches this yr, with 12 of them coming on the ITF degree. Her 21 aces listed here are second solely to Clara Tauson.
Meanwhile, Paolini was a 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 winner over Ajla Tomljanovic.
“I lost to her in doubles in the Australian Open,” Paolini mentioned, “and I mentioned to [partner] Sara Errani, `This woman is taking part in actually good, serving good, returning good, hitting like actually flat balls.’ She beat Tauson, who can be taking part in actually good.
“So it’s going to be a really tough match.”
No. 14 Linda Noskova vs. Alexandra Eala
Head-to-head: 0-0.
There may need been 5 Top 10 seeds in play, however No. 4 Coco Gauff retired from her third-round match with a painful left arm damage. She mentioned, “it felt like fireworks going off” and rising crowd favourite Eala was declared a 6-2, 2-0 winner.
It was solely the second time Gauff retired from a match, going again to 2022 in Cincinnati
Eala, 20 and a graduate from Rafael Nadal’s academy in Spain, is the primary participant from the Philippines to take action many issues. She’ll already be ranked a profession excessive subsequent week, and a win right here would put her at No. 25.
Remarkably, Eala now has a 3-3 document towards Top 5 gamers, defeating Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek at Miami 2025 and Gauff. She’s additionally the primary left-handed participant to register 10 WTA Tour wins throughout 2026.
Noskova, 21, is one other in a lengthy line of gifted gamers from Czechia. She was a three-time finalist final yr, in Tokyo, Beijing and Prague. Noskova was prolonged to the utmost by Sorana Cirstea within the final spherical, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.
“Linda is an amazing player, very powerful, and even at such a young age, very experienced,” Eala mentioned. “I’m excited. My first fourth round in Indian Wells, so I’m going to go in with a good preparation and a lot of motivation.”
