Bencic & Cobolli Secure Olympic Mixed Doubles Gold!
The duo played together at an exhibition in China and felt like they had good vibes so they gave it a try in Indian Wells
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Flavio Cobolli of Italy were randomly paired together for a exhibition match in China in 2025. It felt like they had good chemistry and Bencic asked Cobolli if he wanted to give mixed doubles a try for real, starting in Indian Wells. Even though players are more focused on singles, Cobolli said yes, and they signed up at the last second when it was clear Cobolli's injured wrist would be OK.
Six days later and they are the 2026 BNP Paribas Open mixed-doubles champions. Bencic and Cobolli toppled the top-seeded duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Lloyd Glasspool 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 on Saturday to become just the third mixed-doubles champions in Indian Wells history. Organizers are attempting to make the mixed doubles a larger draw by increasing the winner's share.
Bencic and Cobolli will split $360,000 for their effort. How did they develop winning chemistry so quickly? "I honestly think it's either there or it isn't.
Sometimes you have some great players pairing up, but just the chemistry isn't there," Bencic said. "So I think we felt this in China, we randomly got paired together to play the good Chinese team, and I think we felt immediately that we have great chemistry. Like, this tournament, I thought he was, like, absolutely on fire.