Svitolina eyes deeper Indian Wells run as Day 4 picks roll in
Players chasing a deeper run at the BNP Paribas Open faced narrowing margins Saturday at 11: 20 p. m. ET, with seeds under pressure to protect ranking points and avoid early exits. svitolina was singled out in Day 4 projections as a likely winner in her second-round matchup, as the tournament’s remaining top names moved into action in Indian Wells, California.
Elina Svitolina’s quarterfinal points add pressure against Laura Siegemund
For svitolina, the immediate impact is about staying on pace in a draw where established players are expected to hold serve—figuratively and literally—early in the event. In Day 4 predictions for the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina was described as playing some of the best tennis of her career right now, with an emphasis on defending quarterfinal points and pushing further.
Those predictions set Svitolina up against Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who entered the match after a first-round comeback win from a set down against Petra Marcinko. The same preview framed Siegemund as gritty and willing to fight to the end, while still favoring Svitolina on current form, projecting Svitolina to win in two sets.
Jessica Pegula’s comeback over Donna Vekic reshapes the Indian Wells bracket
Another group feeling the consequences includes players in Pegula’s section of the bracket, where one three-set result reset the next-round matchup. Fifth seed Jessica Pegula opened her BNP Paribas Open campaign Saturday with a three-set win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic, rallying after losing the first set 6-4 to win 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour, 55 minutes.
The turnaround mattered beyond a single result. Pegula extended her winning streak to six consecutive matches after winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month, which was her 10th career singles title on the WTA Tour and her fourth at the WTA 1000 level. She has also reached at least the semifinals in her last seven consecutive WTA-level events, stretching from the US Open 2025 through Dubai 2026.
In postmatch comments following her Indian Wells win, Pegula explained her slow start with two reasons connected to Vekic. She said Vekic’s diamond necklace created glare that disrupted her, and she also said Vekic’s tennis kit blended into the background behind her. Pegula ultimately looked more like herself as the match went on, after dropping the opening set.
Jelena Ostapenko awaits Pegula after Kate Volynets match in Indian Wells
Pegula’s win immediately set up a higher-stakes next match: she will face Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the round of 16. Pegula leads their head-to-head series 3-2, including a 2-1 edge on hard courts.
Ostapenko, seeded 26th, advanced by beating American wildcard Kate Volynets 6-4, 7-6 in the second round. Their most recent meeting was in Beijing in 2023, which Ostapenko won.
Saturday’s Pegula-Vekic match also came with telling efficiency numbers. Both players earned seven break points, with Pegula converting five of seven while Vekic converted two. Vekic, ranked No. 103 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, took the first set but fell short again in a three-set match, moving to 0-5 in three-setters this year; in each of those five matches she won the opening set and later lost.
If Pegula reaches the last four at Indian Wells, she would become the first player to reach the semifinals at eight consecutive WTA-level events since Maria Sharapova did so from Beijing 2012 through Madrid 2013.
