Coco Gauff Faces Tricky Draw at Indian Wells 2026

Last night, tournament organizers for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells revealed the draw for this year's event. Tennis fans scoured the brackets to map out their favorite player's path to the final of the ATP and WTA Masters 1000 event.

Despite entering the tournament as the world No. 4, Coco Gauff faces a challenging path to the final. Below is a round-by-round breakdown for the American star.

The road to the crown continued 👑#indianwells pic.twitter.com/clMGih7sXf
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 3, 2026

After her bye in the first round, Gauff will face Bianca Andreescu or a qualifier in the second round. Gauff is 1-0 against Andreescu.

Should Gauff advance to the third round, she could face the 31-seed Alex Eala, Dayana Yastremska, or Shuai Zhang. Gauff is 1-0 against Eala, 3-1 against Yastremska, and 4-0 against Zhang.

Gauff's road to the final gets even trickier in the fourth round. She could face 14-seed Linda Nosková, 21-seed Shnaider, Sorana Cîrstea, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, or Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Girls being girls 🥰#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/ujJN4QwxPM
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 2, 2026

In the quarterfinals, Gauff could face 7-seed Jasmine Paolini, 11-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, 17-seed Clara Tauson, or Paula Badosa.

The semifinals could bring a showdown against top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, 6-seed Amanda Anisimova, 10-seed Victoria Mboko, 16-seed Naomi Osaka, or 18-seed Iva Jovic.

Finally, if Gauff makes it to the final, she could face 2-seed Iga Swiatek, 3-seed Elena Rybakina, 5-seed Jessica Pegula, 8-seed Mirra Andreeva, 9-seed Elina Svitolina, or 13-seed Karolina Muchova.

Maria Sakkari on beating Coco Gauff at Indian Wells to reach the final:

“What are you proudest of tonight?”

Maria: “I didn’t give up. You can easily lose your head when you lose that 2nd set from being match point up. Things go wrong and I was down a break. Things didn’t look… pic.twitter.com/973k2JDZyg
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 16, 2024

Gauff's results at Indian Wells have been mixed. She has had strong showings, but never won a title at the WTA Masters 1000 event. Last year, Belinda Bencic upset Gauff in the third round at Indian Wells. In 2024, Maria Sakkari defeated Gauff in the semifinals. In 2023, Aryna Sabalenka beat Gauff in the quarterfinals.

Gauff is currently the WTA world No. 4 with a singles record of 10-4 with zero titles this year. Following a first-round exit at the Qatar Open, she lost a tough semifinal match against Svitolina in the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Gauff's frustrations with her serve showed during her last match in Dubai when she yelled at her biomechanics coach, Gavin MacMillan. Gauff said, "I've been doing everything you've wanted for the last 6 months." The two have had a few weeks to work on her ongoing serve issues.

The 2026 BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells runs from March 4-15. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.