Sunshine Swing 411: Dates, draws, prize money and everything you need to know

Author: Cole Bambini

6m read 20 Feb 2026 2w ago

Jimmie48/WTA

Summary

The WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz continues with the Sunshine Swing. Four tour-level and five WTA 125 events across North America and Europe will take place in February and March, including the 1000s at Indian Wells and Miami. Here is everything you need to know.

features

Full match replay: The day Eala took out Australian Open champ Keys in Miami

01:12:57

With the Middle East swing wrapping up, the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz heads to North America for the Sunshine swing.

Four tour-level events will take place on hard courts in the United States and Mexico, highlighted by the season's next two WTA 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami. Furthermore, an additional five WTA 125 events will be hosted across North America and Europe.

Here's how last year's Sunshine swing finals unfolded:

Merida (WTA 500): Emma Navarro def. Emiliana Arango 6-0, 6-0
Austin (WTA 250): Jessica Pegula def. McCartney Kessler 7-5, 6-2
Indian Wells (WTA 1000): Mirra Andreeva def. Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Miami (WTA 1000): Aryna Sabalenka def. Pegula 7-5, 6-2

From dates, seeds, storylines and more, here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 Sunshine swing:

Week 1: Feb. 23-March 1

Merida Open AKRON (WTA 500)

Singles final: Sunday, March 1, 2:30 p.m.
Doubles final: Sunday, March 1, 2:30 p.m.
Time zone: Central Standard Time (GMT -6, EST -1)

Merida: Scores | Order of Play | Draws | Entry List

Merida enters its fourth edition of the tournament, and is the fifth WTA 500-level event of the early season. In its first three editions, Camila Giorgi, Zeynep Sonmez and Emma Navarro were the respective winners from 2023-2025, with only Navarro among past champions on this year's entry list. Merida will have a 28-player singles and 16-team doubles draw. More storylines to follow:

World No. 8 Jasmine Paolini accepted a wild card for the event, becoming the highest-ranked player to ever compete at Merida. Paolini eyes to find her form in singles after early-round losses in Doha and Dubai. She's only the third-ever top 10 player to play at the tournament, behind Navarro and Paula Badosa, who were then-ranked No. 9 and No. 10 at last year's edition.
Katie Boulter will play in her first tournament since winning Ostrava just a few weeks ago, receiving a wild card for Merida. The win in Czechia marked her fourth career WTA singles title and she came back from a set down to defeat Germany's Tamara Korpatsch.

ATX Open (WTA 250)

Singles final: Sunday, March 1, 12 p.m.
Doubles final: Sunday, March 1, 12 p.m.
Time zone: Central Standard Time (GMT -6, EST -1)

Austin: Scores | Order of Play | Draws | Entry List

Also in its fourth edition, the ATX Open in Austin, Texas is the lone 250 event of the short swing. Pegula is the current defending champion, and Kessler, her opponent in last year's final, is set to return to this year's edition in addition to Pegula. The singles draw will feature 32 players while the doubles draw consists of 16 teams. Additional storylines to follow:

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will make her debut at the ATX Open, in both singles and doubles, after accepting a wild card. She began the season with first-round losses at Auckland, Hobart and the Australian Open, but eyes to get her first singles win of the year. In doubles, she'll partner Peyton Stearns, who Williams beat last July in her first match back after a 16-month layoff in Washington D.C. Williams also accepted a wild card for Indian Wells -- both singles and doubles -- and will team up with Leylah Fernandez, who she competed with at the US Open.
Former World No. 4 and 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu also accepted a wild card for Austin. She'll play in her first WTA Tour-level event of 2026 after beginning the season with a few ITF tournaments, including a W75 win in Vero Beach, Florida.

Weeks 2 & 3: March 2-15

BNP Paribas Open (WTA 1000)

Singles final: Sunday, March 15, 11 a.m.
Doubles final: Saturday, March 14, 11 a.m.
Time zone: Pacific Standard Time (GMT -8, EST -3)

Indian Wells: Scores | Order of Play | Draws | Entry List

Per usual, the third WTA 1000 of the season heads to California, where tennis fans will enjoy a 96-player singles and 32-team doubles draw. Several of the world's Top 10 are scheduled to play at Indian Wells, including Andreeva, who won her second of back-to-back 1000 titles last year -- the other was Dubai. More storylines to follow include:

Compared to WTA 1000s in Doha and Dubai, Indian Wells is currently slated to see the entire top 10 in the mix, including reigning champion Andreeva. Andreeva enters the BNP Paribas Open off a pair of close matches against Victoria Mboko (Doha Round of 16) and Amanda Anisimova (Dubai quarterfinals) that her opponents just edged her out in the third-set tiebreak. Last year, she became the third youngest Indian Wells champion after Martina Hingis (1998) and Serena Williams (1999).
There's a few players that have not played since the Australian Open that are scheduled to compete at Indian Wells, including Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka and Madison Keys. Sabalenka withdrew just ahead of Dubai because of a right hip injury, while Osaka has not played since pulling out of the Australian Open before her third round match. Keys followed a similar plan to her 2025 schedule, foregoing the Middle East swing.

Weeks 4 & 5: March 16-29

Miami Open presented by Itaú (WTA 1000)

Singles final: Saturday, March 28, not before 3swing p.m.
Doubles final: Sunday, March 29, 12:30 p.m.
Time zone: Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5)

Miami: Scores | Order of Play | Draws | Entry List

The Sunshine Swing ends with a trip to the Sunshine State with the Miami Open. The current World No. 1 and No. 2 in the PIF WTA Rankings, Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, both have championship wins at Miami. Sabalenka enters as this year's reigning champion at the event, which will similarly see a 96-player singles and 32-team doubles draw. Storylines to follow:

Miami was the place -- in some ways -- where it all got started for Alexandra Eala, who will be in the mix at the Miami Open. Then-ranked No. 140 in the world at last year's edition, she battled her way to the semifinals of Miami, defeating Swiatek and Keys in the process. Since she became the first Filipina to crack the top 50, and her popularity has only continued to rise.
2024 Miami finalist Elena Rybakina seeks her first title in the Sunshine State. After winning her second career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month, she battled with a cold in the build-up to Doha, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Mboko. In Dubai, she retired in her third-round match to Antonia Ruzic because of gastrointestinal issues. She's slated to compete in both Indian Wells and Miami and has some time off to fully recover.