Katie Boulter
After losing to seventh seed Elena Rybakina 6-0 7-5, Katie Boulter was eliminated from Indian Wells; British No. 1 served for the second set at 5-4; and defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek easily advanced to round four.
After losing to seventh seed Elena Rybakina 6-0 7-5 in the third round, British No. 1 Katie Boulter is eliminated from Indian Wells.
In a lopsided 26-minute opening set, Rybakina converted three of her five break points, won 80% of the points on her first serve, and hit 13 winners to Boulter’s two.
After breaking for the first time at 3-3 in the second game of the second set, Boulter finally got on the board. However, she was broken back while serving for the set at 5-4 and then dropped serve once more as Rybakina won three straight games.
With her finest performances to date, Rybakina has advanced to the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where she was defeated by Belinda Bencic and Mirra Andreeva, respectively, and is still vying for her maiden title in 2025.
In a rematch of their Dubai semi-final, which the Russian won in three sets to become the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 championship, the Kazakh, who was unwell and missed last year’s competition, will take on ninth-seeded teenager Mirra Andreeva.
The 17-year-old said that her instructor, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, was helping Andreeva stay focused.
After her night match, she informed reporters, “She already told me that she booked a court at 12pm.” “It is not horrible, but I see that not much time has elapsed after the contest… she is just like this.”
In other news, second seed Iga Swiatek defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-0 6-2 to continue her pursuit of back-to-back Indian Wells titles and a third in four years.
“I felt a little exhausted toward the end, but I am glad I maintained my intensity in the final game to close it out,” she said. “It is always hard to finish a match like that.”
“I am definitely delighted with the performance because I had control from the start.”
Since her victory at Roland Garros in 2024, the five-time major winner has not won a title, which is the longest run since she took home her maiden major championship in 2020.
Karolina Muchova, who defeated fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova 7-6 6-1, will face the Pole in the round of 16.
Elina Svitolina, a Ukrainian, easily defeated Wang Xinyu of China 6-2 6-1 to defeat 14th seed Danielle Collins 6-2 6-4. She will now play another American, fourth seed Jessica Pegula, in the next round.
American wildcard Caroline Dolehide lost to Svitolina’s countrywoman Marta Kostyuk 6-3 6-3.
