Paradise Slice: Top Takeaways from Covering 2026 BNP Paribas Open
By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open
Tennis Paradise pumped the party to thrilling places.
Pulsating matches—and blistering heat—added a red-hot finish to a fantastic 2026 BNP Paribas Open event.
Here are some of our top takeaways from our 12 days in Tennis Paradise.
Strike Zone
A single strike can alter a match—and rock a rivalry.
When all is said and done this season, Aryna Sabalenka may look back on that bold backhand bolt she hit to erase championship point at 5-6 in the tiebreaker as the key stroke. Sabalenka went on to score a thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) triumph over Rybakina to win her maiden Indian Wells title—and snap a four-match losing streak in finals to the AO champion.
Sinner: Fire Starter
Jannik Sinner engaged fans daily—and confronted one fan.
Serving down 5-6 vs. Joao Fonseca, Sinner paused to go toe-to-toe a taunting front row fan. Apparently, the fan had been heckling Sinner for losing his doubles match with Reilly Opelka and hounding him for errors against the hard-hitting Brazilian.
In a rare show of his sniper side, Sinner shot back at the fan, waved off the chair umpire’s offer to intercede then made a rousing stand saving set points in the first-set tiebreaker to fend off Fonseca 7-6(6), 7-6(4).
It was good to see the feisty side of Sinner, who rarely shows too much emotion from beneath the vanilla baseball cap on his head.
Even when the desert heat was on, Sinner did not shrink from the moment taking down Daniil Medvedev by the same score in the final for his maiden Indian Wells title.
Sinner, like Monical Seles, Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi, has impeccable baseline timing—and the skill to lengthen his strikes on crucial points beating you pumping high-percentage depth and pace at you.
Instinct Inspired Comeback
The world No. 1 put in a lot of practice court work with coaches Anton Dubrov and Max Mirnyi, spending time on serve, return and transition play in practice. Opponents had been targeting Sabalenka’s forehand return—mainly because it’s a bigger backswing than her backhand return (as was Serena Williams)—but the Belarusian was solid on that side at crunch time. Saving championship point and winning championship with crackling winners Sabalenka showed she’s at her best going all in on the instinctual strike.
“So lucky me, she served again wide serve, and I just covered that side. And doesn’t matter how fast the serve is, I know that I can block it and I can return. So I got super lucky in that point. And, yeah, I pulled out really great two shots, and I feel like that was the moment that gave me so much, I don’t know, so much mental power. Yeah, I got lucky.”
Rybakina IW Run Short, Ready for No. 1 Run
Elena Rybakina failed to convert championship point and lost a classic final, but showed why she’s certainly on pace to supplant Sabalenka as world No. 1 this season.
World No. 2 Rybakina currently trails Sabalenka by 3, 242 ranking points. But between now and start of grass season Sabalenka is defending 4,480 ranking points—including 1000 points for winning Miami, 1000 for her Madrid title and 1,300 for the Roland Garros final—while Rybakina is only defending 880 ranking points between now and her return to grass-court play in London.
True, clay is not Rybakina’s favorite surface but she’s capable on clay and playing her best tennis this season. Barring injury or lapse, former Wimbledon winner Rybakina could well be world No. 1 during grass season.
Medvedev: Magic & Meaning
The traveling tennis zoo is always more entertaining when Meddy Bear comes roaring out of hibernation.
Daniil Medvedev lost that two tiebreaker duel with Jannik Sinner in a fantastic final after the seismic rush of snapping Carlos Alcaraz’s perfect season in the semifinals after he dethroned defending champion Jack Draper 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
After the final, Sinner said tennis needs the mercurial Medvedev playing the final weekend of ATP Masters 1000 and Grand Slam fortnights because the former No. 1 is such a unique and prickly presence.
“We don’t have to forget he’s a Grand Slam champion, you know, and that’s for a reason. He played great tennis, serving very well, and I struggled to return, especially on the second-serve return,” Sinner said. “But, you know, I do believe that tennis needs him. He’s a very unique style of playing.
“Seeing him back at this level, it’s great. He’s improving a lot. Very aggressive player at the end. He has two different game styles when he serves and when he returns. So, you know, you have to face that.”
Medvedev v. Draper Controversy
When the desert dust settled, Daniil Medvedev said he’s not proud of playing the hindrance card, but at this level you’re either the hammer or the nail when it comes to controversy.
ICYMI: Draper was serving at 5-all in the second set and after a length rally, Medvedev issued a challenge.
The 11th-seeded Medvedev used VAR to win his argument that a slight hand gesture from Draper during the rally was a hindrance. Medvedev, who made the challenge after making a point-ending error went up Love-30 on the Briton’s serve rather than the 15-all it would have been prompting jeers from fans.
That crucial call helped Medvedev break for 6-5, in a 6-1, 7-5 victory.
It was a shady move, but perfectly legal for Medvedev to play the hindrance card, as he conceded in his presser.
“So as I say, was I distracted big time? No. Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something,” Medvedev said. “So I got a bit distracted. I let it go, I let the referee decide. I had a lot of calls against me in my life, and I usually don’t handle them well. To get one on my side, I guess feels good as well.”
Learner Lesson
American Learner Tien fought off two match points in an electric 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) win over the 18th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina that ignited an eruption of roars from fans.
Tien has twice topped Medvedev at the Australian Open, prompting the former US Open champion to say if you take the serve out of the equation, Tien owns Top 10 racquet skills.
Remember, Tien out-aced Dallas champion Ben Shelton—15 to 10—in a clash of exciting young American lefties.
We asked Tien what he views as his biggest weapons and here’s what he told us: “I think when I’m at my best, I feel like I’m not making that many mistakes. I feel like, yeah, my patterns I’m playing are a bit more unpredictable. I think that I’m really placing the shots kind of where I want to put them. I think, you know, shot selection is like a big part of my game. When I’m playing my best, I think that I’m just hitting my spots well and just executing what I’m trying to do.”
Mboko Major Player
Despite a 7-6(0), 6-4 quarterfinal loss to Aryna Sabalenka in a sticky quarterfinal day match, Victoria Mboko continues to shine. Mboko crushed US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-1 in the round of 16 and showed why she’s a rising star who will win multiple majors barring injury. Consider, Mboko was ranked No. 333 in January of 2025. Since last August, Montreal champion Mboko has posted wins over Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Mirra Andreeva, Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys to name a few.
Mboko is exciting because she’s explosive: She can beat you off the backhand or forehand side, she goes after the serve often resulting in high ace and double fault totals, she’s as quick as they came and not scared to attack net.
The Doha finalist is so impressive live I believe she will win multiple majors, barring injury, because she has so many options and can only get better. While Mboko does a good job consistently leaning into her backhand, she’s sometimes slightly late hitting the forehand down the line and that shot strays wide. If she can tame that wing and use the body serve a bit more she’ll only get better. On the serve, Mboko has hit 103 aces against 93 double faults in 21 matches. Gauff has hit 21 aces and 120 double faults in 16 matches. Mboko is holding serve 74.5%, while Sabalenka leads the Tour at 88.5% ahead of Rybakina (82.1%) and Linda Noskova (80%).
Attendance Record
Crowds flocked to Tennis Paradise. The 2026 BNP Paribas Open set a new attendance record with total attendance of 527,626 across the fortnight. This marks the second consecutive year the tournament has eclipsed half a million fans. The middle Friday and Saturday’s were the most crowded days to our eyes with the walk from the practice courts past Stadium 1 to Stadium 2 feeling as congested as Times Square at lunch time. Saturday, March 7 also set a new single-day attendance record of 60,781.
Changing the Stadium 2 to assigned ticketing only whereas the upper bowl use to be open to all fans was a mistake in that in diminished attendance in Stadium 2 and the intense atmosphere. Stadium 2, in my view, is actually a better stadium to watch tennis than Stadium 1, the second-largest tennis stadium in the U.S. behind only Arthur Ashe Stadium. However, officials neutered the bite from stadium 2 and consequently Grand Slam champions played on barren stages in week one.
I saw both Naomi Osaka and Sloane Stephens play before sparse crowds in week one on Stadium 2. Had open seating still been permitted, no doubt the crowd would have quadrupled in size.
Paradise Passion Plays
Best and most exciting matches we saw during our—-stay:
*Aryna Sabalenka d. Elena Rybakina, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) —A worthy sequel to Rybakina’s rally in the Australian Open final. This was one of the most riveting matches of the season with both champions earning championship point in the climactic tiebreaker. Sabalenka snapped a four-match losing streak in finals to Rybakina. Here’s hoping we see it again.
*Jack Draper d. Novak Djokovic, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)—-Amazing all-court players, a roaring crowd, a climax to 5-all in the third-set tiebreaker and a gallant and staggered Draper, who looked like he was about to puke into the towel box at 6-5 before his bold backhand that helped him close, fantastic tennis.
*Daniil Medvedev d. Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 7-6(3)—-Two-time finalist Medvedev actually won a couple of drop-shot duels vs. the world No. 1 en route to stunning Alcaraz and snapping the Australian Open champion’s perfect record.
*Alexandra Eala d. Dayana Yastremska, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5—-One of the most intense night crowds of the event amped up the atmosphere to dizzying levels for this midnight showdown. Eala has a rising star presence, a flair for angles and the knack for the down the line kill shot. Eala also has a habit of keeping calm while fans are sceaming into a frenzy, practice her shadow swings and completely reset the point. It’s a pity Yastremaska twice clanked back-to-back double faults in the final game, but this was a truly a crackling clash.
Force Field
The grass field was filled with stars. Some of the highlights for us:
*Seeing Novak Djokovic play soccer and football on back-to-back days. Though he grew up on a mountain in Serbia, Djokovic looked at home throwing what looked to be a regulation-sized football. No one throws it as well as Ben Shelton did in Miami a couple of years ago—Big Ben pitched perfect strikes to Coco Gauff’s younger brother on the Miami Dolphins field that day—but Djokovic throws the ball really well. Watching him play multiple sports then go through an elaborate stretching where he had his feet behind his head at one point. I pulled a hamstring watching this guy go Gumby. Djokovic is not only GOAT, he’s a freak athlete who can throw a football better than Tim Tebow, exude more flexibility than a contortionist and still engage fans taking selfies and signing.
*Alcaraz practicing shirtless on a scorching hot day sparked a sea of raised smart phones.
*Coach and Hall of Famer Marat Safin did a soccer style warm-up with his charge Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov. All three men were quite proficient juggling a tennis ball as if it were a soccer ball and passing it hacky-sack style onto the next.
New Two & You
The Top 2—Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner—spent quality time with fans.
After every practice, Alcaraz stopped for selfies and signed autographs. Commonly, Alcaraz signed four or five tennis balls before even walking over to the fence where fans screamed his name, then he’d randomly hand each of the precious signed balls to different kids in the crowd. A classy and thoughtful gesture—-and another reason to applied Alcaraz as an elite champion and excellent ambassador for the sport.
Similarly, Sinner was gracious with fans. He often stayed several minutes after every match signing and taking selfies with virtually everyone who asked.
There’s a separation from the training field where players warm up or cool down to the fence where fans wait for possible autographs. It’s very easy for players to just avoid the pack of fans, but Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime were smong the stars we saw intentionally walk over and spend times engaging fans which was great to see.
The Beast & The Best
Thank you former doubles No. 1 Max Mirnyi, who co-coaches Aryna Sabalenka with Anton Dubrov and Jason Stacy, for taking time for a lengthy Tennis Now Q&A on the first day of play.
Something Max said that first day of play resonated seeing Sabalenka raise his first IW title trophy. That is Sabalenka has grown into champion because she’s willing to question herself—whether it was rebuilding her serve, trying to add net play and nuance to her game and retooling her sometime eruptions into self-destruction—and constantly strive to improve. It’s what Max Mirnyi identified as one of the toughest challengers for a top player: Fine-tuning and improving while you’re already the best player in the world.
Photo credit: Rob Stone/@RobStoneTennis
“There’s very little room that she can improve. Because she’s already so good—the best in the world, yes,” Max Mirnyi said. “There’s actually much more downside because any little thing can derail the train, right?
“So I’m very cautious and aware of the fact my main goal is to facilitate and to give more options to Aryna to work with on the court. But I’m always constantly aware to be selective with what I say, where I say, when I say and how I say it. Because it’s a very physical and emotional position she’s in. You know, she’s dealing with a lot of demands physically and psychologically, she’s combating pressure non stop.
“Because she’s No. 1 and everyone wants a piece of you.”
Best Breaking Bread Moments
If I told you for the first and only time in my life I got to feast with friends at Nobu right next to Learner Tien’s table, would you believe it?
Didn’t think so.
So we ate both lunch and dinner daily at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The tournament generously gave media members $60 a day in meal money, which is nearly double what the 2025 US Open allocated. Thank you, BNP Paribas Open, for also stocking media room with fresh bananas and oranges most days.
Focusing on food only, our favorite dining experiences in Tennis Paradise were:
*Spicy Tuna Bowl at Sweetfins
*Mahi Pita at John’s
*Big Mama’s Burrito at Chef Tanya’s Kitchen
*White chocolate and macadamia nut cookie at Mrs. Fields
*Strawberry ice cream cone at Handel’s Home Made Ice Cream
Well Played, Well Done
A new and unique aspect of covering the 2026 tournament was working beneath the big tent.
The BNP Paribas Open downside its Stadium 1 Media Center dramatically—presumably cashing in the big bucks by transforming much of it into a lucrative corporate suite—so most of the media worked from the media center tent in the parking lo adjacent to the grassy field area where players train and stretch.
Obviously, you miss walking out a door and plopping into a prime-time stadium 1 seat so that’s a big loss. Overall though, the media tent was bigger, gave journalists more breathing space, stocked with private lockers, open area tables for interviews, water, gatorade and pepsi always in the refrigerator. The tournament made the tent a cool and safe working space.
Special thanks to our fellow journalists Chris Oddo, who writes for Tennis Now and the official BNP Paribas Open website, Pancho, Anita, Joel Drucker, Courtney Nguyen and photographers Rob Stone, Tony Chang, Fred Mullane and Matthew Calvis for taking time to hang out and help us. Much appreciated.
We also got to hit with legendary LA player and sometime tournament director Rob Stone on a nearby court built by the same company which does the Indian Wells court, which was a blast and tournament highlight. Playing on the courts you realize the bounce is higher than the Miami Open, which hosts an annual media tournament on the outer courts, they’re gritter courts which can chew up balls which grew fluffy 45 minutes into hitting, and the court accepts and rewards both high, heavy spin and low slice.
Paradise provided an exhilarating bounce this year.
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