Indian Wells, March 13 – Elina Svitolina secured a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory in 2 hours and 9 minutes, defeating World No. 2 Iga Swiatek and advancing to the Indian Wells semifinals for the second time, and the first since 2019.
After splitting sets with Swiatek, the third set was a closely contested match that went to serve until the 9th-seeded Ukrainian broke for 5-4. She then swiftly served out the match, earning her second win against the Pole in six meetings.
This victory was Svitolina's 11th career win against players ranked inside the Top 2, and her first such triumph since defeating Swiatek at Wimbledon in 2023.
With this win, Svitolina achieved just her second victory over the current World No. 2 in six meetings at the WTA Tour level, having last defeated her at Wimbledon in 2023. Since 2016, when she defeated Serena Williams at the Rio Olympics.
Only Elena Rybakina (14) has earned more wins over Top 2 players than Svitolina (11). The result also marks her tour-leading 19th win of 2026, according to WTA reports.
In the semifinals, she will face Rybakina, who ended Jessica Pegula's run of seven consecutive semifinals with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory. Svitolina is 3-3 against Rybakina, and she won their most recent meeting in Madrid last season, in straight sets.
With Rybakina joining a semifinal quartet that also includes Aryna Sabalenka in the top half, a rematch of this year's Australian Open final remains a possibility.
Earlier, No. 1 seed Sabalenka defeated No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko, advancing 7-6(0), 6-4 to her third career semifinal at the tournament.
The World No. 1 has now reached six consecutive semifinals on the WTA Tour; her last loss before that round was in the Cincinnati quarterfinals last August to Rybakina.
Sabalenka's quest for her first Indian Wells title will continue against No. 14 seed Linda Noskova, who defeated qualifier Talia Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.