Follow The Athletic‘s coverage of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, Calif.
After two days in the Coachella Valley, the first round-robin matches of the 2026 WTA Finals are in the books.
Here are the matches and players that have stood out, some things tennis fans may have missed, and what to look out for in the next set of matches.
Why was there an early vindication for the WTA?
There is much more tennis to be played at this year’s WTA Finals, and its current home at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California is temporary. But the early signs are that the tour’s decision to bring its flagship event to the U.S. for the foreseeable future is going to pay dividends.
A sellout crowd of over 7,500 packed into Stadium 2 over the course of the opening day of the 2026 event, which is stopping off in the Coachella Valley before a three-year stint at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. Stadium 2, as its name suggests, is the second-largest court at Indian Wells, with Stadium 1 holding 16,100.
But tickets only went on sale in July, after Iran retaliating to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes by launching strikes on Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, led the tour to cancel its third edition in the city. In 2022, women’s tennis learned from bitter experience in Fort Worth, Tex., that trying to sell out a large stadium at short notice is not a good idea.
As the stadium filled up Sunday through Wimbledon champion Linda Nosková’s 6-2, 6-4 win over alternate Marta Kostyuk, the atmosphere built and built toward Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula’s all-American clash, which Gauff won 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. The following day, a similarly raucous — though not quite sellout — crowd came through for Aryna Sabalenka’s tight 7-6(2), 7-5 win over Wimbledon finalist Karolína Muchová and a 6-4, 6-0 triumph for French Open champion Mirra Andreeva over Elina Svitolina.
The sun and shadows are making for a different kind of challenge than the buffeting wind that can swirl around the complex at the ATP and WTA 1000 event in March, but the vibes are just as strong.
“Thank you, guys. I wasn’t sure how the crowd was gonna be … Just really happy that you guys are here supporting women’s tennis and women’s sports in general,” Gauff said during her on-court interview.
The tour has shifted its strategy with this edition of the WTA Finals, and with the deal to go to Charlotte. It has moved from taking lucrative licensing fees with limited operational control to taking full operational control with all the economic exposure that brings. Only time will fully tell if that is the right strategy, but so far, it is looking like a strong bet.
— James Hansen
Why does a new Grand Slam champion have a very particular habit for getting in the zone?
Mirra Andreeva was nervous for her WTA Finals debut — very nervous.
The 19-year-old Russian described herself as moving “like a turtle” due to nerves after her opening match against Ukraine’s Svitolina. That would have been news to the crowd, who watched Andreeva deliver a performance that moved from controlled to emphatic in a 6-4, 6-0 win that showed all the contours of her game.
In an interview at the Tennis Channel desk after the match, Andreeva explained some of her secrets to staying in the zone — and one of them is very particular.
“It’s weird, but I watch Roger Federer highlights against Rafael Nadal from the Australian Open final in 2017. I know almost every single point they are going to play because I watch it every single match,” Andreeva said.
“When I look at Roger … I want to feel effortless. I want to feel like nothing’s bothering me on the court. That’s one of the things that I do to get my mind to the right place.”
Andreeva is still working out how to keep her temperament even on the court, and the 2025 Indian Wells champion unraveled during her last appearance in California, cursing at the crowd after an early loss to Kateřina Siniaková in March. If her performance against Svitolina is anything to go by, full of 120 mph serves, more-confident-than-usual forehands and trademark down-the-line backhands, then the 2017 Australian Open final is doing something right for her.
— James Hansen
Why does being an alternate mean more for Marta Kostyuk?
Marta Kostyuk‘s position at the WTA Finals is a peculiar one. There’s little arguing that the Ukrainian made her presence felt like few others did in women’s tennis this season by winning her first WTA 1000 title in Madrid, making her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open, then making her second a few weeks later at Wimbledon.
All that loud success makes her feel like a natural fit in the eight-player draw at the year-end championships — yet she arrived as an alternate.
She replaced world No. 1 Elena Rybakina, who withdrew on the eve of the tournament due to a viral illness. But even then, Kostyuk was only in position to be first alternate because six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Świątek, whose ranking points put her in the No. 9 slot, shut down her season in October.
Kostyuk feels like she belongs in the year’s final eight, but technically, she does not. Chalk that up to the depth of the elite class on the WTA Tour.
True to her confident personality, the 24-year-old Ukrainian has not spent too much time dwelling on how she got in the draw or whether she belongs. She feels lucky, especially to be playing without lingering pain from a wrist injury she’s been nursing for months.
Kostyuk was perhaps more easygoing than usual after losing her first match to Nosková Sunday. Part of that is because the tournament isn’t single elimination; she plays Jessica Pegula on Tuesday for a chance to stay in the tournament, and just playing three matches is good for $220,000.
She also didn’t have much time to process her entry into the draw. While it’s common for an alternate to get to play a match or two, as second alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova did last year when Madison Keys fell ill with one match left in the round robin, it’s rare that they need to step up from the start.
Losing a match she had 24 hours to prepare for wasn’t the end of the world. In at least one way, Sunday was a win. It was just the second day, Kostyuk said, that she didn’t feel any pain in her wrist.
“I had no expectations going into this match. So, I think she played great, and I think I’m happy to be back on court,” Kostyuk said.
“Finally, after three months of being in pain every single day, I’m somewhat able to build on these days, on these matches.”
Kostyuk said she’s in pain “all the time” and trying to play her best with subpar preparation and knowing that she needs to change her serve. That’s not an ideal way to honor the best season of her career, at her debut WTA Finals. But being able to survive a match feels worthy of celebration to Kostyuk at the moment. She’ll take the win — or the loss.
“Generally, why would I be sad? I think today I was extremely happy throughout the whole match because, again, I didn’t have pain, and there are still things to get better, and again, practice,” Kostyuk said. “It’s just my job. I lose, I win, whatever, it’s the same. I played good, so, good.”
— Ava Wallace
Other notable results in the first round
The No. 8-seeded Italian pair of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini surprised No. 2 seed Taylor Townsend of the U.S. and Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic with a 4-6, 6-1, (10-8) win, leaving the U.S. Open champions with an uphill path to qualify for the semifinals.
No. 1 seed Luisa Stefani of Brazil and Gaby Dabrowski of Canada had a better time, defeating No. 7 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium and Zhang Shuai of China 6-3, 7-6(5) in the other group.
And one point from one of the wildest
The most thrilling conclusion of the opening duels came in a doubles match. No. 5 seed Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei led France’s Kristina Mladenovic and China’s Guo Hanyu, the No. 3 seed, 6-0 in a deciding 10-point tiebreak. Then they led 8-2. Then they led 9-6. Then it was 10-10.
On the 21st point of the tiebreak, Guo appeared to have fizzed a backhand beyond Hsieh’s reach at the net, to give Guo and Mladenovic their first match point. They had saved four.
Instead, Guo’s shot looped up off the tape and the net cord gave Hsieh an elementary put-away shot to bring up a fifth match point for her and Ostapenko. The 40-year-old had been imperious in the tiebreak, and looked certain to capitalize.
Alas, tennis:
Guo and Mladenovic capitalized, converting their match point to win 3-6, 6-1 (12-10).
Drop Shots
🏆 Meet the eight contenders vying for the WTA Finals trophy.
🎤 How Jessica Pegula’s hot mic moment, and the WTA’s apology for it, got the tournament off to a controversial start …
⚔️ … And why it should never have happened, but tennis still needs more of it.
❓You are Taylor Fritz. You have match point against Carlos Alcaraz. What do you do?
❌ Why world No. 1 and defending champion Elena Rybakina had to withdraw from the WTA Finals.
💰 How women’s tennis wants to reclaim its status as the spearhead of women’s sports.
👋 In her final season, 36-year-old Sorana Cîrstea earned the best ranking of her career.
Up next: Round-robin singles
🎾 Jessica Pegula (5) vs. Marta Kostyuk (ALT)
3 p.m. ET Tuesday on Tennis Channel
Jessica Pegula had chances to level her first match against Coco Gauff quickly, but she got dragged into a tiebreak and the energy she expended saw her fade in the third. Marta Kostyuk, like Gauff, is one of the fastest players on the tour, but her rally tolerance is less developed and Pegula will look to maneuver her into uncomfortable positions.
🎾 Coco Gauff (4) vs. Linda Nosková (8)
Follows Pegula vs. Kostyuk Tuesday on Tennis Channel
Linda Nosková’s composed three-set win over Gauff at the Madrid Open was one of the American’s worst losses of the year, because she let momentum unspool just as she had it. Nosková looks very comfortable on the Indian Wells courts, but Gauff has the defense to test her first-strike instincts to the limit.
🎾 Elina Svitolina (6) vs. Karolína Muchová (7)
3 p.m. ET Wednesday on Tennis Channel
Karolína Muchová didn’t do much wrong in her loss to Aryna Sabalenka — her errors came in bunches at bad times, rather than percolating through the match as a whole. Elina Svitolina had a rougher performance against Mirra Andreeva, and with the slower courts at Indian Wells giving Muchová time to unleash her full repertoire, she may have another tough match in store if she cannot crowd the baseline and take that time away.
🎾 Aryna Sabalenka (2) vs. Mirra Andreeva (3)
Follows Svitolina vs. Muchová Wednesday on Tennis Channel
A rematch of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells final, in which Andreeva won her first WTA 1000 title by stunning then-world No. 1 Sabalenka with a near-flawless display. Sabalenka has the capacity to overpower Andreeva from the back of the court, especially forehand to forehand, but if Andreeva can give herself enough time to defend and change the rhythm of points, she can take over the match.
Tell us what you noticed in the opening matches…
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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