Iga Swiatek gets another shot at Maria Sakkari | Indian Wells Previews

Before each day's play at the BNP Paribas Open, we'll preview three must-stream matches.

Iga Swiatek vs. Maria Sakkari

“I think in Doha, it was, for me, quite obvious why I lost,” Swiatek said this week about her defeat to Sakkari last month in Doha.

The most obvious reason was that, in one of the shocking finishes of the season so far, she let a 5-2 lead in the third slip away, against an opponent who hadn’t beaten her in more than four years. But the second most obvious reason was the number of unforced errors Iga threw in—38—including 16 from her usually steady backhand side.

Swiatek responded with drastic measures. She pulled out of Dubai and went to work on the practice court instead.

“Immediately I went off the court, I knew what to improve,” she said. “Technical-wise, I really didn’t prepare for some of the shots as I should. When we got back home, I really practiced hard.”

“I want to really use these practices for the match, and change that, and be better at that.”

For Sakkari, the win in Doha was a long-awaited breakthrough. After beating Swiatek in their first three meetings, she had lost four straight, including two finals at Indian Wells. She also watched her ranking tumble from No. 2 to No. 52 by the end of 2025, while her Polish rival kept winning majors. Now she’s up to No. 34 again, and playing on courts she loves.

Does Iga, a two-time champ here, still love Indian Wells? Over the past year, she has reverse coursed and gone from a slow-courter to a fast-courter. Part of her recent training block was about getting back to the grinding style that was once her stock in trade, and which she has struggled to revive of late. As she said, she’ll need better preparation, shot selection, and consistency to turn the tables back around on Sakkari.

“We’ll see how it’s going to go,” Iga says. Winner: Swiatek

Taylor Fritz vs. Alex Michelsen

The more Americans who make it into top-level tournaments, the more all-U.S. matchups we’re going to see, and the more mini-rivalries that will form between them.

On Sunday, Learner Tien beat the higher-ranked Ben Shelton for a second straight time. On Monday, Alex Michelsen will try to do the same thing as his friend Tien, and go 2-0 against the higher-ranked Fritz.

The only meeting between the two came in 2024 on clay in Geneva, a match that Michelsen squeaked out 7-5 in the third set. For a time, that result looked like it might foreshadow the rise of the 6-foot-4 Californian into the Top 20. He finished 2024 and started 2025 well, before peaking at No. 30 in July of last year and settling back to his current 44.

Does that seem low for a guy with his serve, forehand, and wingspan at net? Michelsen has shown positive signs so far in Indian Wells, where he survived Ugo Humbert 8-6 in a third-set tiebreaker on Saturday.

Fritz, meanwhile, has had a topsy-turvy first two months of 2026, nursing a knee injury yet still coming within a point of the title in Dallas. He’s a past champion in Indian Wells, and he fought off a stubborn challenge from Jacob Fearnley in his opener. Unlike Shelton against Tien, I’m guessing Fritz will get his revenge. Winner: Fritz

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Arthur Rinderknech

“Well, I think I played great,” Carlos Alcaraz said after cruising past Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday evening.

It’s becoming a near daily refrain from the world No. 1 this year. He loves the way he’s been hitting the ball in practice, and even more so in matches. He’s up to 13-0 on the season, and even a windy evening in Indian Wells, and an opponent who has troubled him with his variety of shots in the past, were no match for him on Saturday. Dimitrov spent much of his time either applauding, or smiling at, Alcaraz’s latest outrageous winner.

Alcaraz’s start to 2026 has begun to be compared to Novak Djokovic’s 41-0 opening to 2011. As far as his demeanor on court, though, he’s starting to remind me of Roger Federer during his peak season of 2006. Alcaraz is serenely confident, fairly untroubled by his opponents, and out there to put on a show for every fan who has paid to see him.

Judging by his record against Rinderknech, Alcaraz should feel fairly untroubled again. He’s 5-0 against the 28th-ranked Frenchman. But their match last month in Doha was a close two-setter, and they went to a third-set tiebreaker in Queen’s in 2023.

Rinderknech, 30, is tall, and has the serve to prove it. He has gradually made himself into a Top 30 player over the past four years, and he took his career up a level when he made his first Masters 1000 final in Shanghai last fall.

That was a fast court, and this is a relatively slow one, which will make things more challenging for him, and make Alcaraz the clear favorite. But Rinderknech may have enough in the service department to make this less of a show by the Spaniard, and more of a match. Winner: Alcaraz