Indian Wells is well underway, and many of the WTA’s finest talents have advanced to the latter rounds.
Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Świątek and Jessica Pegula have all advanced to the quarter-finals after impressive individual weeks under the Californian sunshine.
Notably, American stars Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova have exited the event, after losing to Alexandra Eala and Victoria Mboko, respectively.
Where will Coco Gauff be ranked at the end of 2026?
Of the players listed above, only Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova are yet to win a Grand Slam title.
Pegula reached the 2024 US Open final, while Anisimova made major final appearances at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships and 2025 US Open.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has weighed in on the matter, selecting the best player yet to win a major trophy on the WTA Tour.
Eugenie Bouchard says Amanda Anisimova is the best player on the WTA Tour who has not won a Grand Slam
Speaking during the Tennis Channel’s Indian Wells coverage, Bouchard identified Amanda Anisimova as the best WTA player yet to lift a Grand Slam trophy.
“I’m going to go with Amanda Anisimova,” said Bouchard. “She is my pick because, well, first of all, she’s been really close many times.
“So she’s made the final twice last year, obviously at Wimbledon in the US Open, and so she’s shown she can go far. I feel like she has the weaponry, she has the power to beat the top players and become a top player herself.
But also, a balance of some consistency— not with just with her results, but with her game as well. She’s been able to do better shot selection as she’s improved as a player.
She used to kind of go for broke and go for too much, but now she has that nice balance, and so I like that going deep in a major.
Amanda Anisimova’s last five Grand Slam results…
| Tournament | Result | Lost to |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Australian Open | Quarterfinal | Jessica Pegula |
| 2025 US Open | Runner-up | Aryna Sabalenka |
| 2025 Wimbledon | Runner-up | Iga Świątek |
| 2025 French Open | Round of 16 | Aryna Sabalenka |
| 2025 Australian Open | Round of 64 | Emma Raducanu |
Bouchard also pointed to Chinese star Qinwen Zheng, who won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I do want to do a quick shout out to Qinwen because she basically almost won a major,” Bouchard added.
She won the Paris Olympics, of course, which doesn’t count as a Grand Slam for us tennis folks, but is a pretty big deal. And so she has that firepower.
“She has that serve and that forehand that can disrupt the top players.”
Chris Eubanks makes his pick
Chris Eubanks, a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, went a different route, choosing American star Jessica Pegula.
Pegula, 32, has been in great form to start the year, reaching the Australian Open semi-finals and winning the Dubai Tennis Championships.
“I’m going to go a different route. I’m going to go with consistency, and I’m going to go with Jess Pegula,” he said.
How do you rate Jessica Pegula’s chances of ever winning a Grand Slam?
“I think we know that Jess struggled for a while to get past the quarter-finals of a major, but it seems that as soon as she broke through that barrier, made that US Open final in 2024, she has been remarkably consistent and also amassing big titles – not Grand Slams, but WTA 1000s coming into Indian Wells.
“She has shown an ability to be able to beat the best players in the world. She’s also modifying her game and adding tools to her game to hopefully ascend to that next level of Grand Slam champion.
“She’s being aggressive on the second serve return. She’s looking to come to net a little bit more. I think that bodes well for her long term.
“It doesn’t mean necessarily she has the greatest resume, because, as John perfectly highlighted, you have players like Karolina Pliskova, who’s been number one in the world and hasn’t won a Grand Slam.
“Isn’t about the greatest resume. This is about who I think the best is right now.
“And right now, in March of 2026, I think the best player, because of her consistency, to not win a major, is Jess Pegula.”
Jessica Pegula’s Grand Slam debut
After a number of appearances in qualifying, Jessica Pegula made her main-draw debut in a Grand Slam at the 2015 US Open.
Pegula, who came through qualifying, defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 7-5, 6-3, securing a first major main-draw win.
Pegula was then defeated by 2014 Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5, 5-7, 3-6.]
Flavia Pennetta won the 2015 US Open, defeating compatriot Roberta Vinci in the final. Pennetta, who was seeded 26th at the event, immediately retired from her playing career after securing her first Grand Slam singles title.
Returning to Pegula, her next Grand Slam main-draw appearance occurred at the 2016 US Open, where she lost in the first round.
