The first week of the 2026 BNP Paribas Open has concluded, and within it was seven days of straight action featuring the world’s best players battling it out under the desert sun. With strong performances from top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the men’s draw as well as Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek on the women’s side, the top of the ladder has climbed through their opening tests as expected. But with any tournament comes some surprises, as a packed field of teenagers emerges as contenders including an 18-year-old with a one-handed backhand on the WTA side. Let’s cover all the talking points.
Déjà Vu for Alcaraz Against Dimitrov, Unpredictable Sinner Starts Strong
Just one year ago, Carlos Alcaraz played some of his best tennis against Grigor Dimitrov, taking the Bulgarian out in the round of 16 last year, one and one. This time around, the Spaniard found himself back on court in the second round against his familiar foe, and nothing shocking happened this time around. Alcaraz gave Dimitrov one more game this time in the first set before winning the second, 6-3, to move onto the third round.
Photo credit: Mauricio Paiz.
Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner seems to be in top form despite a very unsteady start to the year. The 2nd seed, who is known for his consistency, has only played two ATP events thus far, losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Novak Djokovic and then in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open to Jakub Mensik. While both opponents are incredibly skilled, both matches were huge upsets. But in a rather uncomfortable setting for Sinner—the extreme heat and gritty courts of the desert—the Northern Italian seems to be holding up just fine, in fact better than that. He demolished Dalibor Svrcina in his opener, 6-1, 6-1, before backing that up in comfortable test against Dennis Shapovalov, 6-3, 6-2. While he is yet to face a top-level player, the 24-year-old seems to be thriving and will next face a youngster who we’ll cover in a following section.
Other noteworthy performances from the men’s draw include Alexander Zverev’s. The fourth seed is through to the round of 16 with wins against Matteo Berrettini and 28th seed Brandon Nakashima. While no unseeded player is through yet to the fourth round, Alex Michelsen, Rinky Hijikata, and Sebastian Baez will all attempt to achieve this feat and stir up trouble in the second week.
Sabalenka Sets Showdown Against Osaka, Swiatek Faces Former Opponent from the 2022 Final
So far, Aryna Sabalenka seems to be loving it out in tennis paradise, and that is shown through two very solid wins to start her campaign out in SoCal. She first took on Himeno Sakatsume, who put up an impressive fight in the first set before being broken; Sabalenka immediately took advantage of this and stayed strong to win the first, 6-4. After that, she settled in nicely and played through the second, 6-2. Following this, Sabalenka took on Jaqueline Cristian, and this time she won 6-4, 6-1. The top seed will now face Naomi Osaka, who won this event all the way back in 2018 as an unseeded 18-year-old. That was her first title on the WTA Tour.
Photo credit: Mauricio Paiz.
Iga Swiatek’s best season on tour is arguable 2022, when she ascended to world #1 and maintained a destructive 37 match win streak. That same year, she won the BNP Paribas Open by defeating Maria Sakkari in the final. Now, she’ll face the Greek again in the round of 32. Sakkari, who has severely struggled since their last encounter in the desert, is back on her feet and clinched the last seeded spot at #32. This follows a semi-final in Qatar. Swiatek, like ranking counterpart Jannik Sinner, has only played two events this season, but has kicked off her quest for success in the desert with a topsy-turvy encounter against Kayla Day in which she prevailed, 6-0, 7-6(2). Despite some minor inconsistencies in her first challenge, Swiatek is the obvious favorite in this one.
Teen Tennis Shines Strong in the Opening Rounds
Some of tennis’s top teenagers have shifted the spotlight in the opening week, adding to the list of names to watch as the 2026 calendar progresses. Among them in 18-year-old Lilli Tagger, a former top junior who won the 2025 Junior French Open. The Austrian, who wields a one-handed backhand as a weapon, impressively won her first match against Vavara Gracheva, 6-2, 6-4. While she’s a new face to the majority of the tennis world, she’s already done damage on the WTA Tour: last November she reached the final at a 250-level event in Jiujiang, China. While she recently was defeated in the second round here by Maria Sakkari, this key win on a big stage puts her on the radar, permanently.
Meanwhile, unseeded Joao Fonseca has reached the fourth round after some incredible wins, most notably in the second round against Karen Khachanov where he just scraped by, 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4. He backed that win up with a comfortable defeat of Tommy Paul, and now he’ll take on Jannik Sinner for a spot in the final eight.
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Written by Will Turvey. Photo credit (top): Mauricio Paiz.