Eisenhower Cup line-up confirmed: Swiatek and Ruud back together, Rybakina and Fritz aim to retain trophy

The Indian Wells organisation announced the players for the upcoming Eisenhower Cup, the traditional mixed doubles tournament that is played in the days leading up to the first Masters / WTA 1000 event of the season.

Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz will return as defending champions in a more than interesting line-up featuring the main top players from both Tours. They won the trophy in 2025 after defeating the local pairing of Tommy Paul and Madison Keys in the final – in addition to having teamed up in the 2024 edition and in the mixed doubles at the 2025 US Open.

Mixed doubles tournaments – when they manage to attract the biggest singles players – become a real success among fans. At the last US Open, attention during Fan Week was focused on the new mixed doubles format – which prioritised the participation of top-ranked singles players over specialists. Indian Wells, aware of the success of this formula, has put up a $200,000 prize for the winning duo.

The exhibition tournament will be played in a single day as part of the Tie Break Tens mixed doubles charity event, which will take place at Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden next March 3. Among the standout pairings will be the reunion of Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud once again as a mixed doubles team, after having finished as runners-up at the US Open, falling in the final to the Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.

There will also be all-American pairings in the tournament, with 2024 US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula teaming up with former world No. 8 Tommy Paul. They were expected to join forces in Flushing Meadows last year, but Paul’s injury ended up leaving him out, and Pegula instead partnered Jack Draper. In addition, Ben Shelton and Emma Navarro will also team up, after being crowned Eisenhower Cup champions in 2024, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa in the final.

Another team that will reunite after the mixed doubles in New York will be the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva. On that occasion, they reached the quarter-finals – leaving Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic along the way – but eventually fell to the top seeds Pegula/Draper.

It will also be a reunion for an all-Canadian pairing: two-time semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up. Both already played together at the 2025 United Cup – with a record of one win and one loss before being eliminated.

The Italians Matteo Berrettini and Jasmine Paolini will be another pair joining the field. Back in 2024, they already played an exhibition at the US Open, defeating Swiatek and Korda in a super tie-break exhibition match – also held to raise funds.

Completing the draw will be Amanda Anisimova alongside Andrey Rublev, two players who were also present in the mixed doubles at Flushing Meadows – although separately, as Anisimova partnered Holger Rune, being eliminated in the first round, while Rublev teamed up with Czech player Karolina Muchova, falling in the quarter-finals.