Three American WTA Stars Stumble Into Sunshine Swing

It is no secret that every American tennis player has the Sunshine Swing circled on their calendar. Naturally, players want to compete at their highest level at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

An important step in getting there is gearing up for the Masters 1000 tournaments by playing smaller tournaments in North America. Unfortunately, for three American women's tennis players, Thursday brought unexpected losses.

Ajla Tomljanovic defeats Iva Jovic

Iva Jovic has established herself as one of the faces of a new generation of tennis players. However, Ajla Tomljanovic is notoriously a tough opponent. The unseeded Tomljanovic upset the second-seeded Jovic in three sets in the second round of the ATX Open: 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Jovic will have a week off before she begins her campaign at Indian Wells. Meanwhile, Ajla Tomljanovic will face the unseeded Kimberly Birrell in the quarterfinal of the WTA 250 event this afternoon.

Shuai Zhang defeats Emma Navarro

Shuai Zhang helped Emma Navarro's season go from bad to worse. Zhang defeated Navarro in straight sets during their second round match at the Merida Open Akron: 6-4, 6-4.

Navarro won the WTA 500 tournament in 2025, but has slumped since the grass court season last summer. The World No. 20 falls to 4-7 on the season and will slide even further down the WTA Rankings next week. Meanwhile, Zhang will face Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva in the quarterfinal tonight.

Zeynep Sonmez defeats Ann Li

Zeynep Sonmez has been the breakout star of 2026. Unfortunately for the third-seeded Ann Li, that trend continued with a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the Merida Open Akron: 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.

Li entered the tournament as the world No. 39 and fell to 4-6 on the season. Meanwhile, Sonmez is the No. 81 and continues her ascent by improving her record to 8-5. The Turkish star will face Cristina Bucșa in the quarterfinals later today.

Indian Wells and Miami Open

If there is any silver lining, the three Americans who suffered early exits will have a small amount of time to regroup and recover before the Sunshine Swing kicks off next week. The 2026 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells runs from March 4-15. After that, the Miami Open runs from March 15–29. Both events are WTA Masters 1000 tournaments.

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