Jessica Pegula defeated Belinda Bencic for the first time in her career on Wednesday.
Pegula recently won the Dubai Tennis Championships and has carried her excellent form into the Indian Wells event.
Pegula secured her eighth consecutive WTA victory after beating Bencic 6-3, 7-6.
The 32-year-old broke her duck against Bencic after losing all four of her previous matches against the Swiss star.
How do you rate Jessica Pegula’s chances of ever winning a Grand Slam?
In the quarter-finals, Pegula will play Elena Rybakina, who won her second Grand Slam title at the 2026 Australian Open.
Ahead of the contest, Pegula discussed the ‘really tricky’ conditions in California.
Jessica Pegula says the Indian Wells conditions are ‘really tricky’
Speaking to reporters after beating Bencic, Pegula explained why the conditions are so ‘tough’ in Indian Wells.”
“It’s really tough,” she said. “You know, Centre [Court] is a little bit slower, I would say Stadium 2 almost feels faster, some of the side courts feel faster, some of the practice courts feel slower.
“And that’s just the variance I think tournaments always kind of have because they’re laying down the courts at different times and different days.
“We’re kind of used to that, but I think with the thin air and the fact that it can get really hot here, but then also get to cool and get very windy, is really tricky.
“It’s hard to control the ball when the air is really thin and dry, but then the court feels sometimes slow.
“It’s just tricky. It’s one of those things I think we all kind of struggle with, and you’re just trying to do your best out there to figure out, you know, and adapt and try to figure out how to play your game without, you know, overthinking it.”
Pegula was then asked if the windy conditions were made more difficult due to the flat-hitting game-style of Pegula and Bencic.
Indian Wells WTA quarter-finals
- Iga Świątek vs Elina Svitolina
- Jessica Pegula vs Elena Rybakina
- Aryna Sabalenka vs Victoria Mboko
- Talia Gibson vs Linda Nosková
“A little bit,” she continued. “I felt pretty good out there today. I think it did get a tiny bit windy with the wind. “
“It was a little tough serving against the wind, especially because we return so well, so when we were kind of sitting on returns and hitting our spots and moving forward, it was tough to defend on that side.
“But, you know, I think she’s had some pretty good results here. I haven’t played horrible here, but maybe not one of my better tournaments of my career.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s more just learning how to figure it out and depending on what time you play and the matchups that you play on certain days and how the weather is.”
Later in the press conference, Pegula discussed whether the conditions favour more powerful players, like Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka.
Pegula said: “I think that probably the slower conditions, it does probably favor the bigger hitters, that just have more pure, strong power, because they’re able to kind of hit through a slower court or slower ball.
“You know, I think that maybe has always been a little bit tougher for me, but that’s something I have tried to improve and get better at.
“But at the same time, I really love a hot, fast hard court where sometimes maybe the bigger girls don’t like my flat ball. So I think it goes both ways.
“Obviously, you play a lot of night matches, especially when you’re a top player and you play bigger matches on bigger stadiums and you have to be able to get better at that.
“I was happy with how I played my night match the other night. If I’m night match again, it’s just again another challenge that I kind of need to figure out.
Jessica Pegula’s Indian Wells tournament so far…
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| Round of 64 | Donna Vekic | 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Round of 32 | Jelena Ostapenko | 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Round of 16 | Belinda Bencic | 6–3, 7–6 |
| Quarter-final | Elena Rybakina | — |
“It’s always tough, too, when I play night match, I’m usually playing against a pretty good player, so it gets tougher and tougher every time.”
What will the weather be like for Jessica Pegula vs Elena Rybakina?
Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina are scheduled to play their quarter-final match at 5pm local time on Thursday.
Temperatures are set to reach 34 degrees Celsius [93 Fahrenheit], as per BBC Weather, and there is no chance of rain.
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Light winds from the north are expected, and temperatures are set to cool by three degrees by 7pm.
The pair are set to avoid the hotter period of the day. At 4pm, temperature are set to hit 35 degrees Celsius.
