While (hopefully) the worst of the winter is behind us in Canada, a dose of southern sun, even through our TVs, will definitely do Canadian tennis fans some good. One of the biggest months of the tennis season is upon us with the Sunshine Double kicking off on Wednesday in Indian Wells.
The storylines are abundant on the WTA side heading into the final stretch of spring hard-court events. Can Elena Rybakina back up her Australian Open title? Can Aryna Sabalenka get back in the winners' circle at a big event? Are the teen sensations going to continue their ascent?
It should be a very interesting month on the WTA Tour. To set it all up, here are the 2026 WTA Sunshine Double Power Rankings.
(Brackets indicate change in position since the last edition of the Power Rankings from before the Australian Open.)
1) Aryna Sabalenka (-)
- Actual Ranking: 1
- 2026 Record: 11-1
- Notable Recent Result: Australian Open Runner-Up
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Miami Champion (2025)
After she was one win short of the Sunshine Double in 2025, Aryna Sabalenka will once again be the favourite to try to complete the feat this season. The world No. 1 lost in the Indian Wells final last year when Mirra Andreeva secured back-to-back WTA 1000 titles, but she responded by not dropping a set to win Miami.
Sabalenka started the season as she usually has in recent years, securing a second consecutive title in Brisbane and reaching her fourth-straight Australian Open final. The 27-year-old didn’t play in a single match over the Middle East Swing, but a fresh Sabalenka could be an issue for the rest of the field in her quest to win the first Sunshine Double in singles since 2022.
- Francesco
2) Elena Rybakina (+3)
- Actual Ranking: 3
- 2026 Record: 12-3
- Notable Recent Result: Australian Open Champion
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Indian Wells Champion (2023)
Can Elena Rybakina’s Australian Open title be the boost she needs to get her hands on the Sunshine Double? The only other time the Kazakhstani reached the final in Melbourne was back in 2023, the same year she was one win away from the Sunshine Double after winning Indian Wells but falling in the Miami final.
Rybakina was dominant in that Aussie Open triumph, taking down Pegula and Swiatek in straight sets before a powering three-set win over Sabalenka for the title.
The world No. 3 was one of the handful of players that withdrew or retired from Dubai, but the forced early exit won’t be an issue as the 26-year-old was already seen hitting the courts of Indian Wells.
- Francesco
3) Iga Swiatek (-1)
- Actual Ranking: 2
- 2026 Record: 9-4
- Notable Recent Result: Australian Open QF
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Indian Wells (Twice) and Miami (2022) Champion
Iga Swiatek may be experiencing a bit of a bump in the road, but it’s still impossible to ignore her past successes, especially in Indian Wells and Miami. The Wimbledon champion was a BNP Paribas Open titlist just two years ago, conceding a mere 21 games in her six matches at the event.
Read also: Novak Djokovic’s Three-Year Sunshine Double Dominance
It may have been four years since Swiatek achieved the Sunshine Double, however, there’s always that sense that something could click for the world No. 2 once she touches down in the USA. In the 24-year-old’s previous two American events, she reached the quarters at the US Open and was crowned champion in Cincinnati.
The Pole withdrew from Dubai so that regroup might be beneficial for the six-time major winner.
- Francesco
4) Jessica Pegula (+2)
- Actual Ranking: 5
- 2026 Record: 13-2
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Dubai Champion
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Miami Runner-Up (2025)
Jessica Pegula recently showed that she remains a threat, no matter how late into her career. The 32-year-old has played some of her best tennis in 2026 so far, first put on display at the Australian Open after she dethroned Madison Keys in round four then defeated Amanda Anisimova in the quarters, with both wins coming in straight sets.
The American No. 2 returned to the WTA 1000 winner’s circle thanks to some impressive play in Dubai, beating four Top 20 players, including Anisimova again in the semis and Elina Svitolina for the title.
Now, Pegula brings this great form onto home soil, a little less than a year after she reached the final in Miami.
- Francesco
5) Victoria Mboko (New)
- Actual Ranking: 10
- 2026 Record: 13-4
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Doha Runner-Up
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Miami R2 (2025)
The Sunshine Double will mark a full-circle moment for the WTA Tour’s fastest-rising star. Mboko made her WTA 1000 debut last year in Miami, scoring her first tour-level match win before putting the tour on notice by going toe-to-toe with Paula Badosa in round two. It’s been a steady upward trajectory ever since for the 19-year-old, who will be contesting her first event as a Top-10 player in her Indian Wells debut.
Mboko has turned her 2025 breakthrough into incredible consistency to start 2026. She has reached the final at two of the three events she’s played this year, including a second WTA 1000 final in Doha, and has won at least three matches in every tournament. She has three Top-10 wins, including a victory over the freshly-minted Australian Open champion Rybakina in Doha.
Ranked just inside the Top 200 at this stage 12 months ago, Mboko enters the Sunshine Double fifth in the 2026 race.
- Pete
6) Coco Gauff (-3)
- Actual Ranking: 4
- 2026 Record: 10-4
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Dubai SF
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Miami SF (2024)
It’s difficult not to give Coco Gauff the edge heading into the biggest American events of the year so far. The American No. 1 has made at least the fourth round in each of her last five tournaments on home soil.
Read also: Top Canadians Coming in Hot in Indian Wells
Gauff’s 2026 started off strong, earning a dominant 6-4, 6-2 victory against Swiatek in her first match of the year at the United Cup. The 21-year-old then reached a third-straight quarter-final at the Australian Open and was back in the semifinals in Dubai, falling to Svitolina on each occasion.
Gauff will hope that third time’s a charm if she were to meet the Ukrainian again during the Sunshine Double, but expect the Floridian to string together more than a few wins in her quest for a first American title since 2023.
- Francesco
7) Amanda Anisimova (-3)
- Actual Ranking: 6
- 2026 Record: 7-4
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Dubai SF
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Indian Wells (2018) and Miami (2025) 4R
Amanda Anisimova will have some motivation to try to get back into the Top 5 and she doesn’t have many points to defend over the next few weeks. In 2025, the American No. 3 was ousted in her opening match in Indian Wells and finished in round four in Miami. However, she has been on a different level ever since.
Read also: Victoria Mboko’s WTA Top 10 Surge by the Numbers
The two-time major finalist has had her big-event runs spoiled by Pegula at the Australian Open and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, but Anisimova still displayed some of her best tennis. The former world No. 3 didn’t drop a set till the last eight in Melbourne and beat Andreeva from a set down in the Dubai quarter-finals.
- Francesco
8) Mirra Andreeva (-1)
- Actual Ranking: 8
- 2026 Record: 11-4
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Dubai QF
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Indian Wells Champion (2025)
The tour’s other teen sensation was at her peak this time last year. Andreeva arrived in the American sun fresh off her first WTA 1000 title in Dubai and backed it up by winning her second in a row in Indian Wells. While she put up consistent results through the rest of 2025, she did not manage to get past the quarter-finals of another big event.
She arrives in Indian Wells after coming up short in her Dubai title defence, although she did reach the quarter-finals. While the big titles have eluded her since her triumph in the desert last March, Andreeva has been very consistent and it takes a big player to beat her. She does have a title to her name this season in Adelaide and her losses since have all come against players also on this list (Elina Svitolina, Mboko, Anisimova).
- Pete
9) Elina Svitolina (New)
- Actual Ranking: 9
- 2026 Record: 15-3
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Dubai Runner-Up
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Indian Wells (2018) and Miami (2021) SF
Over the last 12 months, Svitolina has settled into a rhythm, becoming one of the most consistent players on tour, especially at big events. Starting in Indian Wells last year, she reached at least the quarter-finals in five of the eight WTA 1000 events she entered.
Read also: Bucsa Completes Merida Open Sweep
Svitolina has had a very strong start to 2026, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, without dropping a set and scoring wins over Andreeva and Gauff, and just reached her biggest final since reaching the WTA Finals title match in 2019, finishing as the runner-up in Dubai. That run included wins over Belinda Bencic and Gauff before falling to Pegula in the final. Right now, Svitolina can be relied upon to win matches and it feels like she can beat anyone on any given day.
- Pete
10) Karolina Muchova (New)
- Actual Ranking: 13
- 2026 Record: 12-2
- Notable Recent Result: WTA 1000 Doha Champion
- Best Sunshine Double Result: Indian Wells QF (2023)
Muchova’s victory in Doha felt like it was a long time coming. The uber-talented Czech is one of the most dangerous players on tour when healthy, but those last two words are an important caveat. Injuries have deeply hampered her career and the Sunshine Double is a prime example. The 29-year-old made her WTA 1000 debut in Miami in 2018 but in the subsequent seven years, she made just six appearances at Indian Wells and Miami combined.
But as she has shown in 2026, when she is healthy, she is a force. Muchova has won at least three matches in every tournament she has played this year, capping it off with her impressive win in Doha. She beat Mboko for that title and also has a win over Rybakina earlier in the year. If the Czech is healthy, No. 10 in the power rankings may be underestimating her.
- Pete
The National Bank Open Power Rankings are a group collaboration by the Power Rankings Panel which includes:
- Pete Borkowski – Manager of Editorial and Player Coverage, Tennis Canada
- Melissa Boyd – Content Writer, Tennis Canada
- Sarah-Jade Champagne – Content Specialist, Tennis Canada
- Jonathan Chan - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
- Julie Gravel - Marketing Director, Tennis Canada
- Edward Lee – Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
- Hugues Leger – Producer, Podcast Sur La Ligne
- Patrick Steski - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
- Francesco Tosini - Content Writer, Tennis Canada
- Ravi Ubha - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
Bold Prediction for the Sunshine Double:
- Pete: Whoever wins Indian Wells will lose their opening match in Miami.
- Mel: Aryna Sabalenka will complete the Sunshine Double by winning both Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back.
- Jonathan: A very well-rested Sabalenka completes the Sunshine double
- Julie: Maria Sakkari breaks through and makes her first final in FOREVER in Miami.
- Eddie: After falling short of winning her second WTA 1000 title in Qatar, Vicky gets her redemption in tennis paradise, winning her first Indian Wells title.
- Pat: Serena Williams gets a last-minute wild card into Miami.
- Francesco: Rybakina will win the Sunshine Double.
- Ravi: Two different Canadian players make the quarterfinals in both Indian Wells and Miami.
The WTA's best return to Toronto next summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers Aug 1 to 13 at Sobeys Stadium. Get your tickets today!
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
