Elina Svitorina waited for a three-hour rain delay in the California desert and moved to the Indian Wells quarterfinals, beating fourth seeded Jessica Pegra 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
After the Ukrainians dropped their first set, she gathered early in the third set before the weather was interrupted.
“I got a little angry [about losing the first set]I tried to launch a bit with that second set and play better tennis,” Svitolina said. “Even after the rain was late, I'm really pleased with the way I was able to continue writing.”
Pegra entered the day with a seven-game winning streak, including a tournament title in Austin, Texas.
Svitolina will be opposed to either Kazakhstan's seventh seed Elena Rivakina or Russia's ninth seed Mira Andreva for the first time since 2019.
Previously, Iga Swiatek defeated Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1, booked her place at the final 8am and continued her relentless march throughout the tournament to win another biased victory.
Poland's former world No. 1 has only dropped six matches since arriving at the event, so while facing breakpoints, he brushed his Czech opponent aside with a near-Flores performance, including four errors against dozens of winners.
“To be honest, games can be pretty weird,” said Swiatek, the 2022 and 2024 Indian Wells champion, following his 57-minute victory. “It's enough to just not feel that one player is perfect and the other player is great. Then, all of a sudden, the difference becomes much bigger than normal.
“It's tennis. That kind of thing can happen. Certainly, I used my opportunity, I used my chance. It's not easy, but well, I can imagine it looking like that.”
Swiatek is one of 10 women who have two championships at events in Southern California, and she aims to be the first person to prioritize three times. She puts her latest victory in the way before a storm that paused all her actions.
“I knew this big cloud was coming, and I'd probably wait a little if it doesn't finish,” Swiatek said. “On top [the] The last two games, it was already a bit slippery, but I really wanted to finish. So I played at a more risk, but the shots were still in there. ”
After waiting for the rain delay, Swiatek instantly grasped momentum, sprinting through the first four games, and did not drop the first service point in the opening set.
After recovering from wrist surgery last year, Muchova enjoyed an inspirational run for the US Open Semi-Finals, but was unable to find her level in the second set as mistakes were piled up.
Swiatek closed it in 57 minutes to set up a meeting with Olympic champions Zheng Qinwen of China or Ukrinaian Marta Kostyuk.
