Tie Break Tens mixed doubles version coming to Indian Wells next week

The 11th installment of Tie Break Tennis will be played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Tuesday, March 7.

What is Tie Break Tens? It is is a quick-fire version of tennis that anyone can play. Unlike conventional tennis matches, Tie Break Tens matches are comprised solely of tiebreakers–no games, no sets, just dramatic 10-point ‘breakers in which every point counts.

Since its debut in 2015, the Tie Break Tens series has seen some of the best players in the world go head-to-head in these fast-paced, action-packed knockout tournaments at prestigious venues around the globe for huge winner-take-all prizes at each event. So far, Tie Break Tens has been held in London, Vienna, Madrid, Melbourne, New York, Indian Wells and Dubai.

This next chapter has a twist. It will be the first of the Tie Break Tens saga to feature mixed doubles. Sixteen players–eight ATP-WTA teams–will battle for the title and $200,000 in prize money. In the eight-team bracket, the champion will have to win three tiebreakers.

The pairings

• Belinda Bencic (No. 9, Two titles in 2023) & Stan Wawrinka (Three-time Major champion)
• Leylah Fernandez (2021 US Open finalist) & Felix Auger Aliassime (No. 9; Four 2022 titles)
• Ons Jabeur (No. 4; 2022 Wimbledon, US Open finalist) & Casper Ruud (No. 4; 2022 French Open, US Open finalist)
• Jessica Pegula (No. 3; Five-time Major quarterfinalist) & Tommy Paul (2023 Australian Open semifinalist)
• Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open champion) & Cameron Norrie (2021 Indian Wells champion)
• Aryna Sabalenka (No. 2; 2023 Australian Open champion) & Taylor Fritz (No. 5; 2022 Indian Wells champion)
• Maria Sakkari (No. 7; 2022 Eisenhower Cup finalist) & Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 3; 2023 Australian Open finalist
• Iga Swiatek (No. 1; Three-time Major winner) & Hubert Hurkacz (2021 Wimbledon semifinalist)

Past Tie Break Tens Events Champions + Finalists

Indian Wells 2022 – Amanda Anisimova d. Maria Sakkari
Dubai 2021 – Zizou Bergs d. Taylor Fritz
London 2020 – Alicia Barnett d. Alice Gillan
Indian Wells 2019 – Milos Raonic d. Stan Wawrinka
New York 2018 – Elina Svitolina d. Zhang Shuai
Melbourne 2018 – Tomas Berdych d. Rafael Nadal
Madrid 2017 – Simona Halep d. Svetlana Kuznetsova
Madrid 2017 – Grigor Dimitrov d. Feliciano Lopez
Vienna 2016 – Dominic Thiem d. Andy Murray
London 2015 – Kyle Edmund d. Andy Murray

Main-draw action at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells will begin on Wednesday, March 8.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.