Home favorite, Taylor Townsend, will face the 28th-seeded Marta Kostyuk in the second round of the 2026 BNP Paribas Open. While Kostyuk got a first-round bye as a seed, Townsend won her qualifying matches against Joanna Garland and Akasha Urhobo to reach the main draw, where she beat Marie Bouzková 6-2, 6-1 in the first round.
Taylor Townsend vs Marta Kostyuk Match Details
Date: March 7, 2026
Tournament: BNP Paribas Open 2026
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California, USA
Surface: Outdoor hard
Category:Â WTAÂ 1000
Live Telecast: Tennis Channel, Sky Sports, TSN, TVA
Townsend vs Kostyuk Head-to-Head
The head-to-head is 1-0 in favor of Kostyuk, with the Ukrainian winning her only match against Townsend 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at the 2024 Adelaide International.
Townsend began her season with a lucky loser entry at the Australian Open main draw, but could not go past the first round, losing to Hailey Baptiste. However, the American had a breakthrough run at the ATX Open, reaching her maiden singles final on the WTA Tour. She won her matches against the likes of Linda Fruhvirtová, Nikoa Bartůňková, Rebeka Masarova, and Ashlyn Krueger to reach the title match, where she lost to Peyton Stearns.
Kostyuk had a great start to the season, finishing runner-up at the Brisbane International. She beat top players like Yulia Putintseva, Amanda Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva, and Jessica Pegula to reach the title clash. She played a couple of good sets in the final, but could not overpower Aryna Sabalenka. However, the Ukrainian could not sustain her momentum at the Australian Open, as she lost to Elsa Jacquemot in the first round after a tough three-set battle.
Townsend vs Kostyuk Prediction
Townsend has been dominant on serve, winning 79.7% of the service games and 28.8% of the return games this season. The American has won 68.1 percent of her first-serve points and 52.4 % of her second-serve points, translating into a 73.5 % save rate on break points. She has been proficient in return games as well, with a 39.6 % break-point conversion rate.
Kostyuk leads Townsend in both serve and return, with the Ukrainian winning 87.7% of her service games and 37.3% of her return games. She has saved 75% of the break points she has faced so far, while having a 42.3% break-point conversion rate.
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The upcoming match could be serve-dominated, as both players have been serving very well. Kostyuk is playing her first match in over a month, whereas Townsend is in rhythm and in form, and will look to take advantage of any possible rustiness in the Ukrainian’s game, especially in the first set.
However, as the match progresses, Kostyuk should be able to overpower Townsend, as she is the higher-ranked singles player and has a better singles record than the American.
Pick – Kostyuk to win in three sets
