Marion Bartoli, Martina Navratilova, Madison Keys and Laura Robson give their predictions ahead of the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells.
Five players return to the year-end event, including reigning champion and world No. 1 Yelena Rybakina, with three set to make their debuts, but who will win?
Who will win the tournament in the California desert and who will be the dark horse? We asked our panel of experts for their predictions.
Group 1
[1] Elena Rybakina
[4] Coco Gauff
[5] Jessica Pegula
[8] Linda Noskova
Group 2
[2] Aryna Sabalenka
[3] Mirra Andreeva
[6] Elina Svitolina
[7] Karolina Muchova
Marion Bartoli wins…
I choose Aryna Sabalenka, slightly ahead of Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka has won 85 percent of her matches on hard court this year, 34 of 40, the best percentage of the eight qualifiers. The strongest argument for me is what he did in March. She won 12 straight matches to complete the Sunshine Double, defeating Rybakina in the Indian Wells final and Coco Gauff again in straight sets in the Miami semifinals for the title. Add in a Brisbane title and Grand Slam finals on both hard courts and you can see how consistently he puts himself to win on this surface.
November at Indian Wells is a different kind of test. Cool desert evenings can change the way the ball travels down the court.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from the Miami Open final between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff
He has played just three matches since the US Open final – so three and a half weeks between his last match and the start of the Final. I expected him to have fresh legs, which is important going deep into the week. The question is how quickly he finds his competitive rhythm. As a coach, I will watch how deep he returns after the first shot and how balanced he is. You can recover from an early loss in the round robin, but your first opponent is already one of the best players in the world.
Rybakina has the strongest claim. She is the world No. 1 at the end of the year, the defending WTA Finals champion, and she has won 41 hard court matches this year, more than anyone else in the field.
She beat Sabalenka in both the Australian Open and US Open finals and last year’s WTA final.
Martina Navartilova’s winner…
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Let’s take a look at Yelena Rybakina’s 2026 season
Elena Rybakina because of her ranking and how well she played during the year.
Madison Keys winner…
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from the US Open final between Yelena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka
Elena Rybakina. He was clearly the best player of the year, winning two Grand Slam titles and securing the world No. 1 ranking at the end of the year. He has also enjoyed previous success in the desert, winning the title in 2023.
Laura Robson’s winner…
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Aryna Sabalenka attends a fan on court with her dog after defeating Elena Rybakina to seal the Indian Wells title.
Aryna Sabalenka.
Marion Bartoli’s Dark Horse…
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Here’s a look at Mirra Andreeva’s 2026 season
My dark horse is Mirra Andreeva. He is already a world No. 3 and a Grand Slam champion, so no one in the dressing room is looking at him. But if it comes down to Sabalenka and Rybakina, she’s the player I’d pick to destroy the final.
See who beat him to win Indian Wells last year. She beat Rybakina, Svitolina, Swiatek and then Sabalenka in the final, who came back from a set down. This run tells you a lot about him. She dealt with Rybakina’s timing ability, Svitolina winning her every point and the weight of hitting that Swiatek and Sabalenka can throw at you. These are very different problems to solve in the same week, especially at 17 years old.
This year, he won his first Grand Slam in the tough outdoor event in Adelaide, indoor Linz and Roland Garros. He also reached the final in Beijing, so we’ve seen him play well on hard courts deep into the season. For me, what he loses here is the quality of the players and how well his game matches up with the two favourites.
What I love about his game is that he can catch a very hard ball and change direction before his opponent recovers. Against Sabalenka, look at the back of the line after she receives a heavy ball cross court. Suddenly, Sabalenka has to fight on the move.
Against Rybakin, I would look for a deep return up the middle. If Andreeva can take an easy angle on that first shot, she has a better chance of rallying. And when he stretches, he can change the height of the ball to give himself time to recover. If the cold evening conditions give him more time to defend, it helps, provided he gets enough depth in the next ball.
The test in her first WTA Finals will be whether she can hold her second serve and is brave enough to attack them.
His movement and back will keep him in the points. To beat the best players in this field, he needs to get forward when he wins the short ball. He has already shown that he can do it against both favorites at Indian Wells. So I see him winning everything.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Here’s a look at Coco Gauff’s 2026 season
Martina Navratilova’s dark horse…
Jessica Pegula hasn’t won a Grand Slam this year, so this could be the biggest race for her this year.
Madison Keys’ dark horse…
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Jessica Pegula was caught calling Mirra Andreeva a “diva” on WTA Live and saying the 19-year-old needed to be “humiliated”.
Mirra Andreeva. He is a great player and the desert conditions play to his strengths. I think that’s a big reason why he’s had so much success there and has been able to produce some of his best tennis, including his title-winning run in 2025.
Laura Robson’s dark horse…
Elina Svitolina.
NOW streaming tennis without a contract and the Sky Sports Programme. You can watch the ATP Paris Masters live on Sky Sports this week with the WTA Finals in Indian Wells on Sunday.