WTA Indian Wells: Rybakina defeats Pegula, returns to women's singles semifinals

On March 13, Beijing time, the quarterfinals of the 2026 WTA1000 Indian Wells women's singles commenced. Former tournament champion and third seed Elena Rybakina spent 1 hour and 28 minutes to defeat local favorite and fifth seed Jessica Pegula with a score of 6-1/7-6(4), returning to the tournament's semifinals after three years.

The two had met in the semifinals of this season's Australian Open, and this match largely followed the same pattern. In the first set, Rybakina dominated and won swiftly in just 27 minutes; in the second set, Pegula seized the opportunity to take a 4-1 lead, but Rybakina quickly adjusted to level the score. Entering the tiebreak, her powerful serve became the key to deciding the match, and ultimately she won the set 7-6(4), securing her advancement.

As the 2023 tournament champion, Rybakina had failed to reach deep rounds at this event in the past two years. This year, she returned with full confidence from her Australian Open victory and achieved another notable success. Rybakina said after the match: "Everything happened so quickly. I had some fluctuations in the second set, but after that I tried to fight for every point and stay close in the score. My serve helped me, and I'm happy to win in two sets."

By reaching the semifinals and earning $340,190 in prize money and 390 ranking points, Rybakina will officially surpass Iga Świątek next week to become world No.2, setting a new career-high ranking. In the semifinals, Rybakina will face ninth seed Elina Svitolina; this match is scheduled for 9:00 AM Beijing time on March 14.

（Text and editing: Dato, Image: Visual China）