Rybakina needed to finish one round further than Swiatek in order to pass her on the WTA rankings, and after Swiatek’s earlier 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Svitolina, that door opened—and she walked through it, storming through the first set and then battling back from 4-1 down in the second set to make it past Pegula, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
“It really happened quite quickly,” Rybakina said of the early second set deficit. “I have to say, Jessica played well a couple points and I played a little bit passive, and it turned around very quickly.
“After that I was fighting for each ball, trying to stay close to the score, and I’m just happy I managed to win in two sets in the end.
“Definitely my serve was helping me a lot.”
Her delivery certainly did come through on the biggest points, as she fought off four of the five break points she faced in the match, while converting three of her own four break point chances.
Rybakina is now through to the semifinals of Indian Wells for the second time in her career, having captured the title in 2023.
