Preview Indian Wells 2026 Day Two | Venus Williams returns while Bucsa, Stearns and Korda look to back up title successes

Indian Wells is underway with the first round one matches being played out. Another batch of them will be completed on day two, with the final spots in the second round set to be confirmed.

Soon the seeds will come into play, but before that, a whole range of ATP and WTA players are set to make their first foray at Indian Wells in 2026, with hugely tantalising rewards set to be on the line as the tournament progresses. To get there, players must get over this first hurdle and put themselves in the mix at Tennis Paradise.

After not featuring on court for six months, Hubert Hurkacz came back to tennis in triumphant fashion, helping Poland win the United Cup for the very first time. Since them he has just won a single match with his form stagnating. The former Miami Open champion will be hoping to get back to his best in this event, with Aleksandar Kovacevic his opening challenge.

Another former Masters 1000 champion, Grigor Dimitorv is also looking to get back to form after injuries have really had a huge impact on his tennis career. The Bulgarian has picked up just one singles win in 2026 and is another player seriously out of form. One of these defeats came against Terence Atmane at the recent Mexican Open. For a second match in a row, Dimitrov will take on the Frenchman with the hope of a different result.

On the topic of French players, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard will look to join Gael Monfils in the second round. The big server comes up against Kamil Majchrzak while at least one French tennis player will guarantee to progress with Valentin Royer and Benjamin Bonzi locking horns. Arthur Cazaux was supposed to be joining the party but not yet physically ready, he opted to skip this event. Michael Zheng will now wrap up the action against Vit Kopriva.

The Delray Beach Open champion Sebastian Korda is set to return to the court. He has finally drawn up a consistent period of form with that title backing up the quarterfinal he reached in the Dallas Open. After not featuring in Acapulco, he will be fit and fresh ready to take on Francosco Comesana. Alex Michelseon will challenge qualifier Daniel Merida with Emilo Nava looking to out more misery on Nuno Borges. The Portuguese has not reached the heights hoping for since knocking out Felix Auger-Aliassime in the opening round of the Australian Open.

Juan Manuel Cerundolo will be one of the many players swapping the South American clay courts for the North American hardcourts. Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp is his opening challenge with Rio Open finalist Alejandro Tabilo coming off playing on home soil to take on wildcard Rafael Jodar. The Chilean was defeated by Sebastian Baez in Santiago, who culminated at the semi-final stage. He has qualifier Chun-Hsin Tseng as his first round match. Alexander Shevchenko will face Sho Shimabukuro, Britain's Jacb Fearnley has been drawn against Damir Dzumhur, Fabian Marozsan and Roberto Bautista Agut will meet on court, two qualifiers in the form of Francesco Maestrelli and Rinky Hijikata will look to seize their opportunity while another Italian in the form of Matteo Arnaldi will face Mackenzie McDonald.

Venus Williams is back at Indian Wells. The three-time semi-finalist will be playing her first matches in this event since 2024. There does not seem to be any signs of the seven-time Grand Slam champion slowing up as she looks to continue playing tennis at the top level. However, with just one singles win since she returned, the 45-year-old would have hoped for a better return. She has the chance to add another one with Diane Parry her opening task.

Coincidentally, the player she defeated, Peyton Stearns, has just won her second title at the ATX Open, and a first on hardcourt. Taylor Townsend was the player to go down in the final which marked the end to a successful week for the American. She will be hoping that this is a stepping stone for greater things in the future. She goes in the last match of the day against Solana Sierra.

In fact, there are a whole host of Americans taking centre stage in front of a home crowd. Townsend will return from a brilliant run in Texas, albeit with disappointment at the end, with Marie Bouzkova a very tricky task. The same could be said for Ashlyn Krueger, who will have her hands full with Magda Linette raring to go. A first Indian Wells appearance since 2018 for Kayla Day sees her take on Francesca Jones with wildcard Katie Volynets set to go toe to toe with Rebecca Sramkova. Former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin is a joy to play against if you are a good server, and former doubles number one Katerina Siniakova will be hoping to capitalise on this. Hailey Bapitse and Emiliana Arango will look to put on a show for the audience, who will be intrigued to see former Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady step foot at Indian Wells for the first time since 2019 against Antonia Ruzic.

Bakc to the recent champions, and Cristina Bucsa is now in the world top 32 after taking home the Merida Open in a fantastic week for the Spaniard. She will be very much hoping to continue her sublime form following on from those heroics in Mexico with qualifier Darja Vidmanova firmly the second favourite going into this tie.

As for the rest of the action on day two, Sonay Kartal will look for a way past Lanlana Tararudee. Laura Siegemund and Petra Marcinko will clash on court, another Croatian in the form of Donna Vekic will look to turn her bad results around against 19-year-old talent Tereza Valentova with Elsa Jacquemot up against Anna Bondar.

Storm Hunter is one of the lowest ranked players in the tournament after making it through the brutal qualifying route. The world number 234 will look to prolong her journey in California against the Merida Open runner-up Magdalena Frech while Varvara Gracheva will be on the opposite side of the net to Lilli Tagger later on today. The action will get underway from 11am local time (8pm CET).