It’s the night before the start of main draw play at the BNP Paribas Open, and the first two champions have already been crowned in Indian Wells.
Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina enjoyed an evening of mixed doubles on their way to lifting the Eisenhower Cup trophy for the second year in a row, defending their title in the short-format Tie Break Tens event and taking home a cool $200,000.
“I’m super happy,” Rybakina said. “Hopefully I can do the same thing in singles.”
“You know, I can’t really volley all that well, so it works out great,” Fritz said of his partnership with Rybakina. “She serves great and it makes my life really easy!”
A total of 16 players took part in the event, pairing up in mixed doubles teams. The Tie Break Tens format consists solely of tie-breaks—no games, no sets, just first-to-10-points—meaning the stakes are high from the start.
Fan favorites Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek also reprised their partnership, after first teaming up at last year’s US Open mixed doubles event. On Tuesday evening, they walked out on Stadium 2 wearing matching Meta glasses—AI-powered eyewear equipped with cameras—giving fans a true POV look at what players see in the game’s biggest moments.
Top Americans were also in action, with Tommy Paul teaming up with Jessica Pegula. The WTA world No. 5 nearly took out Fritz and Rybakina as she chased down a forehand that bounced dangerously close to the players’ bench. A competitor to her core, Pegula argued that the obstruction warranted a hindrance call, but to no avail.
Two last-minute teams were formed: Learner Tien and Amanda Anisimova, and Alexander Bublik and Mirra Andreeva.
Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev were originally scheduled to participate in the Eisenhower Cup but pulled out after getting stuck in Dubai amid travel gridlock following the outbreak of war in Iran. Medvedev was replaced by Bublik, who partnered with Andreeva, while Rublev was replaced by Tien, who teamed up with Anisimova.
Other teams included Ben Shelton and Emma Navarro, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez, and Matteo Berrettini and Jasmine Paolini.
Fritz and Rybakina defeated debutants Tien and Anisimova in the final, 10-7.
All proceeds from the event go to local charities.