Preview Indian Wells 2026 Day Five | Sinner and Sabalenka headline field with Gauff-Eala and Anisimova-Raducanu standout ties

Third round action at Indian Wells sees the real title contenders start to flex their muscles with places on the line for the last-16.

The seeds have finally had their chance to play on the Indian Wells courts and are ready to try to progress even further in the tournament with lower ranked players sensing an opportunity to cause a surprise result. Day five could see that come to fruition, with some of the best tennis players in the world competing at the highest level once more.

Jannik Sinner wasted no time in coming through his opening challenge against qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, taking 64 minutes to defeat the Czech 6-1, 6-1. This also included a period where he won nine games on the spin. He is someone that has become very reliable in the early stages of tournaments, comfortably disposing lesser opponents before going up the gears throughout. It will be the first time he has faced Denis Shapovalov outside a Grand Slam tournament, last playing in the US Open a few months ago with the world number two coming back from a set deficit. He will be hoping to complete the upset this time.

The Italian contingent is not as strong as other tournaments with Lorenzo Musetti suffering a disappointing early exit to the hands of Fabian Maroszan on day three. An inform Flavio Cobolli, however, has made it through to this stage, continuing his fine form after a torrid introduction to 2026.

Frances Tiafoe will be a familiar opponent, with them recently matching up in the Mexican Open final. The American had won both matches against Cobolli beforehand but was unable to gain the upper hand as Cobolli clinched his first hardcourt title.

In that tournament, Alexander Zverev exited relatively early on. His Australian Open run may have been a false sign. He will be certainly hoping that is not the case as he looks to sail back up the rankings. An opening win over Matteo Berrettini has put him in good stead but there is a lot more work to do. Brandon Nakashima will prove tough competition, albeit the prior five matchups have all gone the way of the two-time ATP Finals champion.

A hugely intriguing tie sees the Canadian Open champion Ben Shelton take to the court again in Indian Wells. He would go down to the eventual victor Jack Draper this time last year in the last-eight stage and has huge aspirations to make it further after another Grand Slam quarterfinal defeat holds back his progress and rise in the sport. That stage in a Grand Slam is a dream come true for Learner Tien. The 20-year-old lost to Zverev at that stage in Melbourne after a fantastic statement. He has won their first and only meeting back in Mallorca last year.

Felix Auger-Aliassime has to be a title contender. His imperious form has caught the eye of many, but the two-time Masters 1000 finalist is still hunting for a maiden title in this category of event. After ending Gael Monfils’ final campaign in California, fellow Canadian Gabriel Diallo will look to halt his fellow countryman in his tracks.

While Monfils fell, French prodigy Arthur Fils is still in the hunt. This time last year he would go on to reach three consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinals in a purple patch that saw him reach a career high of world number 14. Injury has pushed him down, but a win against Fucsovics would help him recoup some of the points. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is still in the hunt for a first title against the Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik his next opponent, while Tommy Paul will go head-to-head against Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca.

Aryna Sabalenka reached the final of Indian Wells in 2023 and 2025, losing both of them. The most recent one against Mirra Andreeva continues a familiar trend of losing in big finals. On top of that, two Grand Slam finals and the WTA Finals Sabalenka reached and lost in 2025 with the Australian Open defeat against Elena Rybakina earlier this year leaving a sour taste in her mouth.

The chance may come soon to make up for this failure with her proving to be the most dominant and consistent WTA player, regularly going very deep in big tournaments. She won the Miami and Madrid Open last year, with 2000 points set to come off. The world number one will want to continue this positive momentum with a tie against Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.

While Sabalenka reached the final last year, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka failed to even make it past the first hurdle, describing it as one of the worst performances of her life. The 2018 champion is looking to get back to the heights she once was at, on top of the WTA Tour. To go one step closer, she will have to take down the person that gave her so much despair last year, Camila Osorio.

Coco Gauff showed more signs of serving trouble against Kamilla Rakhimova, producing 10 double faults enroute to a 6-3, 7-6(5). While she is still so vulnerable from this part of the game, she is still an effective tennis player when stepping onto the court. Coming off a semi-final in the prior WTA 1000 event in Dubai, she thrashed the popular Alexandra Eala while conceding just two games. The rematch is on two rounds earlier as the Filipina continues to show her worth at the top level of the sport.

Amanda Anisimova will also look to entertain the American crowd. She won a brace of WTA 1000 titles last year as she rocketed up into the elite. While maybe not at her best this year, she is still a serious operator and a tricky customer to any opposition. It will be interesting to see what Emma Raducanu she will come up against. The British number one played a very clinical performance to comfortably dispose of Anastasia Zakharova with ease. She will look to unsettle the world number six to claim a fourth top 10 victory, and first since the 2025 Miami Open.

Two other WTA 1000 champions from last year are also looking to make it into the fourth round. Coincidentally, both Jasmine Paolini and Victoria Mboko saved their best tennis for their respective home events in the Rome Open and Canadian Open. Mboko especially has started the year really brightly, losing out to Karolina Muchova in the Qatar Open final. She is making her debut in this tournament and is already ranked in the top 10 in the world. A second matchup against Anna Kalinskaya is on the cards with Paolini squaring up against Ajla Tomljanovic.

The other two matches see 19-year-old Linda Noskova continue her ascend up the WTA ladder with a contes against Sorana Cirstea who could be playing her final match at Indian Wells with Clara Tauson coming up against Talia Gibson.