What Indian Wells can tell us about the rest of the 2026 tennis season

Sinner comes out on top while Medvedev surprises

Coming into this tournament, many only had Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner meeting once more in their battle for top spot. Alcaraz was yet to lose a match in 2026 before his match-up against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, while Zverev went on to lose his sixth match in a row against the former world no.1 in Sinner. The Russian had already shown great class before the semi-final, dismantling last year's champion Jack Draper in the quarter-finals. So with him not beating Alcaraz since the US Open in 2023, it seemed certain for another Sinner-Alcaraz final. However, his unorthodox technique and baseline play was the deciding factor in his dominating victory over the Spaniard, never really giving Alcaraz a chance to recover. His ‘slap’ style forehand finesse was too much in the end, which saw him book his spot in the final - which did not disappoint.

Sinner and Medvedev over an hour and a half were unable to gain a single service break off each other. And with both sets going to a tiebreak, it was always going to be a tall task for Daniil to overcome someone known to be so dominant on hardcourt. Sinner in the end was too much to handle, and even with a 4-0 lead in the second tiebreak, Sinner went on to take the set, winning seven points in a row to make it 7-6/7-6. After the disappointment of losing to Djokovic in Australia over a month and a half ago, this will give the Italian some momentum moving into the rest of the 2026 tennis season. And with the Miami Open currently progressing, he will be looking to carry on a winning record moving towards the French Open in May, hoping to take the No.1 spot once again by the end of this year.

Sabalenka yet again shines on the pro tour

After her loss in the 2026 Australian Open Final to Elena Rybakina, Sabalenka was able to take her revenge at the Indian wells, and did so emphatically. After going one set down, it looked as if Rybakina was once again going to get the best of the Belarussian. Yet with neither player yet to have dropped a set in the entire tournament, Sabalenka showed why she is the No.1 player in the world and went on to win the next set in quick fashion to guarantee an electric final set. The third set ended up almost the same length as the first 2 sets combined, showcasing their monstrous acing power and dominant forehand play. And even after Sabalenka was holding serve to win the final set 6-4, she was broken by the Kazakh, who was able to take the match all the way to a final set tiebreak. Sabalenka did eventually come out on top after a very back and forth match to take the Indian Wells title, but what a final we witnessed.

Now looking forward to the rest of the season, Sabalenka will be hoping to overcome her Roland Garros woes and potentially at Wimbledon later in July as well. Rybakina will be hoping to continue her impressive 2026, and while she struggles to perform on the clay surface, do not write her off for this year’s French Open.

Sabalenka will have to pass Iga Swiatek once more, and potentially have to face Coco Gauff for revenge from last year. However, with both of these players having a very disappointing 2026 season so far, there may be new names on the major trophies this year.

Will Alcaraz continue what has already been a dominant 2026?

Even with his loss to Daniil Medvedev at the Indian Wells, Alcaraz will look with no disappointment to what has already been such a dominant 2026 season. After an impressive Australian win in February to make himself the youngest ever male tennis player to win all four major titles, he won’t be looking to stop there. His love of clay and grass are just around the corner, to which he will want his revenge against Sinner for Wimbledon later in July. It will be interesting to see just how many titles he will go on to win this year, or will Sinner and the surprise of Medvedev come back to haunt him once more?

Can Iga Swiatek bounce back from a slow 2026 start?

As of writing this article, Iga Swiatek has crashed out of the Miami Open first round to Magda Linette, continuing her disappointing 2026. Although showing strong potential for an Indian Wells title chance, she lost to an inspired Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, making that the third tournament in a row that she was unable to pass at that stage (until today in Miami). Swiatek will only be focusing on the future after these failures, wanting to take back her Roland Garros crown and retain her Wimbledon title.

What a tennis season we have in store for us in 2026.