Fritz and Rybakina Win the Eisenhower Cup Exhibition Tournament
Overnight, just hours before the start of the main draw at Indian Wells, several top players from the ATP and WTA tours took to the California courts to compete in a mixed doubles exhibition tournament, the Eisenhower Cup. Eight pairs faced off in the event.
Before the competition began, the pair of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa had to withdraw due to the Spaniard's back injury and were replaced by Daniil Medvedev and Amanda Anisimova.
The other participating duos were as follows: Hurkacz-Swiatek, Fritz-Rybakina, Paul-Keys, Musetti-Paolini, Shelton-Navarro, De Minaur-Boulter, and Ruud-Sakkari.
In the end, it was Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina who triumphed in the competition. In a format that saw pairs compete in super tie-breaks, the American and the Kazakh proved to be the strongest, defeating Tommy Paul and Madison Keys in the final.
We will see all these players again later in the tournament. Indeed, all the seeded players from both draws will enter the fray in the second round, aiming to go all the way in this California desert tournament.
