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By Madison Williams
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World No. 1 Elena Rybakina was seen as the clear favorite to end her impressive 2026 season with a WTA Finals win. She won last year's WTA Finals, then proceeded to win the Australian Open, the US Open and two other WTA events this season.
However, Rybakina withdrew from the WTA Finals, which is being held in Indian Wells from Nov. 8 through 15, because of a viral illness.
Her withdrawal leaves this week's competition pretty wide open for the eight players competing for a chance to end their season on a high note. Speaking with Tennis Channel analysts Tracy Austin and Brad Gilbert ahead of the competition, they completely agreed.
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“I feel like it’s pretty open,” Austin said in an interview with Newsweek. “You can make a case for I think every player that they can come up with a final.”
First, it's easy to make a case for world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. She was the top player in the world for 99 weeks before dropping to second after Rybakina beat her in the US Open. Sabalenka won three WTA titles this season (including at Indian Wells in March), but her last title came in March at Miami. She didn't add another major to her résumé this year, which is expected from her every year it seems like.
“Obviously we compare her to her dominant self, we expect a lot from her," Austin said. "It’d be really cool for her to end the year on a high note because it’s been, by her standards, a little difficult the last four or five months.”
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If not Sabalenka, it's easy to look at the two American competitors as favorites to win this weekend. Coco Gauff won the title in 2024 and could easily become a two-time champion. And, according to Gilbert, she does well in the hot conditions, which the competitors have dealt with in southern California this week.
“Coco has never won at Indian Wells, but I do feel like hot weather becomes a factor. She’s the best player of hot conditions of the eight, and I think that can help her," Gilbert said in an interview with Newsweek. "I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes a deep run.”
However, one storyline surround Gauff this week is the fact that she hasn't played since early October at the China Open as she took a break from competing because of fatigue.
Gauff wasn't the only player to take time off as Rybakina, the other American Jessica Pegula and Elina Svitolina all took a break the past month because of fatigue. It's started a bigger conversation around the WTA schedule and how grueling it can be on players' mental and physical health.
“I think so often we talk about the physical part of players playing so many matches, we forget the wear and tear mentally and how important that is to put gas back in the tank and to get recharged and refreshed," Austin said. “It’s very difficult because I think the players are much more aware of the mental part of the game, and the physical, and they talk about it with their teams and when they need to stop. It will cut down on injuries, it will create hunger to just really be dialed in when you are playing."
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Taking some time off from the tour before the season is over sets up more questions about how these players address their practicing. Will the time off help the players at the WTA Finals, or will it hurt their chances of making a deep run?
“If you take a few weeks off and rest, maybe you are rusty. Do you train? Because then after the tournament, you got like six weeks off for your offseason," Gilbert said. "But, did you start your offseason? Were you nursing an injury? There’s a few factors. But, it does feel a little bit odd to have so much time off before.”
But, Gauff took a long break before the 2024 WTA Finals and ended up winning the tournament, so it's possible for her to do that again this year.
Pegula is looking to win her first WTA Finals title this week. She's a competitor Austin believes fans will need to keep an eye out for as she's been on a roll the second half of this season.
“You look at Pegula, her year has been so consistent, and that’s usually the word I use with Pegula," Austin said. "You just kind of know that she’s going to be there so often on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday. She’s just very reliable. … I think she’ll be super fresh.”
It's really anyone's tournament, but there will be just one winner crowned on Sunday, Nov. 15 in Indian Wells. Austin and Gilbert will be contributing on The Tennis Channel all week long.
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