World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka officially added a new member to her coaching team Monday. Meet Ash, Sabalenka’s King Cavalier Cocker Spaniel puppy! 

“Team Tiger has a new addition. Everyone meet Ash 🥹♥️,” the four-time Grand Slam champion wrote in a social media post the quickly captured to attention of dog-lovers and tennis fans globally.

In the post, Ash is featured in a carousel of images, including on-site at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden ahead of the 2026 BNP Paribas Open, the third 1000-event on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. 

“He’s the cutest dog, I feel, on earth,” Sabalenka said to press Tuesday on media day. “I got him, actually, my fitness coach got him in Seattle, so he was with Jason (Stacy) for a couple of weeks.

“I just met him couple days ago. He’s almost four months old. He’s so cute. Just like little fluffy thing that is so cuddly, so cute, and brings lots of joy and fun, more fun in the team.”

Sabalenka returns to Tennis Paradise in her first event since the 2026 Australian Open, where she lost in the final to Elena Rybakina. She elected to forego the Middle East swing, pulling out of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a change of schedule and withdrawing ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships because of a right-hip injury. 

Last year, Sabalenka reached her second BNP Paribas Open final, falling to Mirra Andreeva, who also happens to be bringing the dog mom life to Tennis Paradise. 

Andreeva, who won her second WTA 1000 title last year at Indian Wells, got an adorable puppy Rassy after the 2025 season concluded. Rassy’s arrival had been in the works ever since Andreeva cracked the top 20 in the PIF WTA Rankings in October 2024, a promise made by Andreeva’s mom.

Rassy unfortunately could not make the trip Down Under for the Australian swing, and Andreeva had hoped she’d make her season debut at Dubai. However, after a change of plans, Rassy tagged along for the trip to Indian Wells and was season with Andreeva on the practice courts.

“It’s pretty stressful,” Andreeva told wtatennis.com back in January at the Adelaide International. “I haven’t seen her for two-and-a-half weeks now, since I’ve been in Australia, so it’s pretty tough. She’s a new member of the family. Me and my mom are here in Australia, and now she’s with my sister and my dad, so at least she’s with another part of the family.

“I miss her a lot, and I just wish that she could travel with me to all the tournaments. But it’s life, so I just have to wait three more weeks, hopefully, and then I’m going to see her, so it’s OK.”

Last year, Andreeva became the youngest player in the past 40 years to defeat the World No. 1 (Sabalenka) and No. 2 (Iga Swiatek) in a WTA event. Then 17, she became the third youngest Indian Wells champion after Martina Hingis (1998) and Serena Williams (1999). 

Both Sabalenka and Andreeva will have byes into the second round at this year’s edition.