The ATP and Hologic WTA Tour’s biggest stars will come together for a good cause ahead of the first combined 1000-level event of the season.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu will be among the players to compete in the Eisenhower Cup, a charity mixed doubles exhibition next week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Seven pairings are confirmed to compete in the event, with one to be determined before the March 7 event. Swiatek will partner with fellow Pole Hubert Hurkacz, while Raducanu (with Cameron Norrie) and Maria Sakkari (with Stefanos Tsitsipas) will also feature in three of the five compatriot pairs in all.
Sabalenka will team with defending men’s singles champion and top-ranked American man Taylor Fritz, while the top-ranked American woman Jessica Pegula will team with her fellow American Tommy Paul. Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime will also share the court, as will both of the 2022 US Open singles finalists Ons Jabeur and Casper Ruud.
Swiatek, Sabalenka lead Indian Wells entries
Fernandez, Jabeur, Sabalenka and Sakkari are no strangers to the event, having participated in last year’s women’s singles edition at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The one-night event will be played in Tie Break Tens format, which sees competitors play not sets or games, but a single tiebreak. The winner is the first team to reach 10 points and lead by a margin of two. All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards local charitable organizations.
The main draw of the 2023 BNP Parbias Open begins on March 8.