Despite the 32 seeded players having a bye into the second round, the first round of WTA Indian Wells, BNP Paribas Open, has no shortage of good matchups. Here are five to watch for:
1. Eva Lys vs Caty McNally
Having missed the last few weeks due to injury, Eva Lys hasn’t played much tennis lately, but she’ll be making her comeback at Indian Wells. She doesn’t have an easy out though, up against Caty McNally in the first round. McNally has become a tour mainstay recently and has been quietly picking up steam. The two players are currently side-by-side in the WTA rankings, so it could be a close contest between two evenly-matched players. The winner of this match will take on 2018 Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka in the second round.
2. Zeynep Sonmez vs McCartney Kessler
McCartney Kessler hasn’t had the best start to 2026, but with a career high of No. 30 in the world she is certainly capable of playing some great tennis. On the other hand, Zeynep Sonmez has really been coming into her own as a tennis player lately and is slowly climbing up the rankings. Kessler has more experience at this level, but Sonmez is a rising star and could absolutely get the win. The winner will face Anna Kalinskaya in the second round.
3. Yulia Putintseva vs Paula Badosa
In this first-round match, Yulia Putintseva and Paula Badosa both have to hope that they can cut down on unforced errors. With such volatile playstyles from both, the match may simply come down to whoever is better on the day. There is a chance that Badosa isn’t entirely healthy—as she retired in her second-round match in Dubai—but if she is, this could be a high-quality, hard-hitting match. Badosa is a former champion at this tournament and has historically always done well, but she’ll have to bring her best game to get past Putintseva and square off against Clara Tauson in the second round.
4. Ajla Tomljanovic vs Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Once again, Ajla Tomljanovic notched a win over one of the Williams sisters and is coming into Indian Wells hot off of that momentum. Elena-Gabriela Ruse, on the other hand, hasn’t had much success of late, but one of her recent wins came against Tomljanovic at the Australian Open. Ruse won that match 6-4, 6-4, but Tomljanovic is playing much better tennis than she was then and can make this match more competitive. Xinyu Wang awaits the winner in the second round.
5. Katerina Siniakova vs Sofia Kenin
Katerina Siniakova is known as one of the best doubles players on tour right now, but she’s also consistently in singles draws and can put up results in that discipline as well. She has only played Sofia Kenin (also a skilled and decorated doubles player) once before, way back in 2018, but it was a three-set thriller at the Fed Cup in which Siniakova emerged victorious. While both are wildly different players from who they were in 2018, their lone result adds to the intrigue of this matchup. The winner will play Leylah Fernandez in the second round, and the winner of that match could face defending champion Mirra Andreeva in the third round.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images
