On Saturday, March 7, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina registered their respective spots for the third round at Indian Wells 2026. World No. 2 Swiatek defeated America’s Kayla Day, while Rybakina took the win over 43rd-ranked American Hailey Baptiste. Swiatek will next face Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the third round.
Swiatek, the ATP and WTA Masters 1000 champion of the 2022 and 2024 editions defeated Kayla Day in sets of 6-0, 7-6 (7/2). In the opening set, Day powered through while Swiatek went downhill going 0-4 and by the fifth game she was at 1-5.
However, Swiatek responded and went on to win five straight points to get a 5-0 lead. Swiatek next faces Sakkari who won her match against US wild card Lilli Tagger by sets of 7-5, 6-0.
Meanwhile, 2023 Indian Wells champion and reigning Australia Open winner Rybakina in a hard-fought battle over Baptise defeated her in sets of 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-2. The third seed fought off three set points in the opening set forcing the match into the tiebreaker.
Rybakina broke twice in the second set but double-faulted on break point to give Baptiste the advantage with a 5-2 lead. However, a nervous service game from Baptiste got Rybakina to take the lead by 3-1 lead in the third game.
Players with first campaign win
Russia’s 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva secured a 6-0, 6-0 win over Solana Sierra. The eighth-seed performed quite impressively against Sierra whom she faced for the first time ever in a tennis tournament.
On the other hand, fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula opened her campaign against Croatia’s Donna Vekic. Pegula recently came off a big victory after winning her fourth WTA 1000 crown in Dubai, where she defeated Elina Svitolina in the finals.
Czech Karolina Muchova opened her campaign over Anna Bondar defeating her by sets of 7-5, 6-2.
