Two months after the inaugural United Cup, the mixed-gender team event won by the United States in January, the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tour again joined forces on the court Tuesday night in Indian Wells. On the eve of main-draw play at the BNP Paribas Open, stars from both circuits thrilled the desert crowd in the third annual Eisenhower Cup, a mixed doubles exhibition that doubles as a fundraiser for local charities.
The one-night tournament was won by Taylor Fritz and Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated the Polish pairing of Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek 10-8 in the final. Fritz, who hit an ace with a trick serve in the semi-finals, fired a service winner on championship point.
“It’s awesome just to have the chance to come out here and play in front of the crowd before [the tournament] even gets going,” said Fritz, the defending Indian Wells men’s singles champ. “The crowd here tonight is amazing. It’s one of the many reasons I love coming here. It’s one of my favourite events, it being such a home tournament for me.”
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Fritz, who helped lead Team USA to United Cup glory in January, also won the Delray Beach singles title in February and broke into the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time last week. He will open his Indian Wells title defence against Ben Shelton or Fabio Fognini.
“We said before the night started that we really wanted to come out and win,” added the Netflix Break Point star. “We played really well against a lot of really good teams.”
NO WAY!!! 😱@Taylorfritz97 pulls out the reverse serve! #TieBreakTens pic.twitter.com/qoxDxmBUBK
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 8, 2023
Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open singles champion, is no stranger to doubles success. The former doubles World No. 1 is a two-time Grand Slam winner in the discipline with partner Elise Mertens, having lifted the trophies at the 2019 US Open and 2021 Aussie Open. The pair also won the 2019 Indian Wells crown.
“I feel good,” said Sabalenka, who will face Alize Cornet or Evgeniya Rodina in her opening singles match. “I’m really happy to be here and really looking forward to the first match.”
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Also competing in Tuesday night’s exhibition event were: Paula Badosa and Cameron Norrie, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez, Ons Jabeur and Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul and Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Belinda Bencic and Stan Wawrinka.
In addition, Fritz and Paul are set to team up in the Indian Wells men’s doubles event, with Auger-Aliassime (with Denis Shapovalov), Ruud (with Dominic Thiem) and Wawrinka (with Frances Tiafoe) also competing.
The women’s doubles draw has not yet been released.