Rybakina defeats defending champion Badosa
No. 10 Elena Rybakina beat defending champion and doubles partner Paula Badosa, 6-3, 7-5, to eliminate her from the tournament.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina defeated former champion and doubles partner Paula Badosa 6-3, 7-5 on Monday, punching her ticket to the fourth round at Indian Wells. Rybakina had lost her previous three matches to Badosa.
Rybakina moves on to the fourth round
Rybakina is ranked no. 10 in the world after finishing second to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January. Badosa had come into the match with a 4-1 lead, but Rybakina saved five of the six breakpoints she faced. She came back from a breakdown in the second set to oust No. 21 seed Paula Badosa in an hour and 35 minutes.
“When I lost that game [to go down a break], I was just trying to play point by point,” said Rybakina. “I had a break in the first set, so I knew that it can change quickly.”
In addition, Rybakina hit nine aces, better than her average 8.1 aces per match. She dropped her own serve just once and fired 24 winners to Badosa’s 11. Rybakina is now one win away from matching her quarterfinal results from last year’s Indian Wells.
On Tuesday, she will play against Varvara Gracheva in a Round of 16 matchup. No. 66 Gracheva advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time at a WTA 1000 event when she defeated No. 8 Daria Kasatkina and has wone nine of her last ten matches. Rybakina and Gracheva have met just once before, when Rybakina defeated Gracheva in St. Petersburg in 2022, 6-2, 6-1.