The smash is a hugely important shot to have in tennis, with some players boasting better ability in that area than others. Much like a serve, the tricky skill requires a full, outstretched arm and ...

Luciano Darderi made his final point against Rinky Hijikata one of the strangest of 2026. Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Follow The Athletic’s coverage of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells After ...

Novak Djokovic must have walked onto Stadium 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday with a very specific feeling in ...

Too many talking heads For Serena Williams’ first round match at Roland Garros, for example, ESPN had four, count ’em four, commentators: Dick Enberg, Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez, and Pam Shriver ...

Mattch point down in the second round at Indian Wells, Luciano Darderi lobbed a defensive ball into the air and pointed toward the crowd. He stopped playing.

Gauff struggled with an injury to her left arm toward the end of the opening set and could not continue down 6-2, 2-0.

Jessica Pegula takes on Belinda Bencic, Elena Rybakina plays Sonay Kartal and Katerina Siniakova looks to keep her run going ...

Nobody wanted to see it end this way. Least of all Coco Gauff. Sunday night at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the No. 4 seed and reigning French Open champion walked to the net, looked ...

Pickleball had its moment. Now, padel is the new obsession. But behind the switch is there a bigger story about status, ...

New kit, a rebuilt serve and a revitalised mindset helped Emma Raducanu surge through her opening match at Indian Wells in fine style, defeating qualifier Anastasia Zakharova 6-1, 6-3.

Updated February 2026 by Paige Townley Pickleball has entered the mainstream in a big way over the last couple of years, and ...

Taylor Fritz called Indian Wells’ changes ‘miserable’ ahead of the event, and there has been a marked change in the speed of matches so far. Windy conditions in California have not helped, but the ...