Taylor Fritz and Aryna Sabalenka team up to capture 2023 Eisenhower Cup at Indian Wells

Taylor Fritz just can’t seem to lose at Indian Wells.

The Southern California native, who has returned this year to the BNP Paribas Open as the first American defending champion since 2001, took home some additional hardware Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Paired with Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus for a mixed doubles Tie Break Tens event called the Eisenhower Cup, the pair beat out seven other star-studded pairing to win $200,000. The win also came with a smaller version of the trophy Fritz took home last March.

“This is a new team, a new partnership,” Fritz said. “But it’s working well so far.”

Mixed doubles events outside of the four Grand Slams, the Hopman Cup and the Olympics are rare. But the several thousand spectators saw some of the most star-studded doubles parings inside Stadium 2 on Tuesday.

More than 6,000 people filled Stadium 2 for the 2023 Eisenhower Cup — which served as a prelude to the BNP Paribas Open main draw, which begins Wednesday.

The event featured some of the biggest stars in the men’s and women’s game, with eight men and eight women pairing up for a mixed doubles matches to 10. Proceeds from the event will be sent to Coachella Valley charitable organizations.

In the first match, third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas and seventh-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece beat 2021 BNP Paribas Open champions Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who is ranked 12th, and 22nd-ranked Paula Badosa of Spain, 12-10.

In the second match, Polish tennis star Iga Świątek, the top-ranked player in the women’s game, and countryman Hubert Hurkacz, who ranks 11th, defeated Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who ranks 10th, and 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leyla Fernandez, 10-6.

Fourth-ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and fourth-ranked Casper Ruud of Norway then cruised to a quick 10-5 victory over Americans Jessica Pegula, who is ranked third, and Tommy Paul, who is ranked 19th.

In the final match of the first round, fifth-ranked Fritz and second-ranked Sabalenka rolled to a 10-4 win over Olympic gold medalists Belinda Bencic, who ranks ninth, and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Świątek and Hubert Hurkacz defeated Sakkari and Tsitsipas, 10-7, to reach the final. Fritz and Sabalenka held off a late comeback attempt by Jabeur and Ruud to win, 10-8.

To start the final, Świątek and Hurkacz won a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who served. They chose to receive and won the first point of the match.

Fritz and Sabalenka evened the score before Świątek and Hurkacz scored the next two points to take a 3-1 lead. But Fritz and Sabalenka scored the next four points to take a 5-3 lead.

Świątek and Hurkacz scored the next point, on a Hurkacz ace, then evened the score when Fritz overshot the ball on his backhand.

Sabalenka and Fritz scored three consecutive points to take a 8-6 lead while holding serve. But Hurkacz caught Fritz with the ball at the net to stop the run and get back on serve.

The teams exchanged points and, with Fritz and Sabalenka leading, 9-8, Fritz put the match to bed with an ace.

It’s now on to the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open, and perhaps there’s some carryover momentum for Fritz, who can become the first American to repeat as Indian Wells champion since Michael Chang in 1997.

“We’re really happy,” Fritz said. “We said before the night started that we really wanted to come out and win and we played really well against a lot of great players and great teams.”

The win could also be a springboard for Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in January but lost her first round matchup last year in Indian Wells.

“I’m really happy to be here,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the first match. I feel good.”

Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Taylor Fritz and Aryna Sabalenka win Eisenhower Cup