Jessica Pegula has advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 Miami Open, where she will face Elena Rybakina. This will be their third meeting this year, with the Kazakh winning the previous two encounters.
Ahead of their matchup, Pegula shared her thoughts on competing against top players like Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.
What Jessica Pegula Thinks About Playing Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka
Pegula and Rybakina have faced each other eight times on the WTA Tour, with the World No. 2 winning five of those matches. Meanwhile, Pegula and Sabalenka have met 12 times on tour, with the Belarusian winning 9 of those.
Seeded fifth at the 2026 Miami Open, Pegula began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She advanced to the third round after her second-round opponent, Francesca Jones, retired during the second set due to illness, with the score at 6-1, 3-0.
In the third round, the former World No. 3 eliminated 26th seed Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-2 and followed that up with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jaqueline Cristian in the fourth round, securing her spot in the quarterfinals against third seed Rybakina.
Speaking to Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj ahead of her quarterfinal match against Rybakina, Pegula said she wished she could face the Kazakh a little later in the tournament, calling it “tough” to meet her in the quarterfinals.
“I wish I were playing her later, to be honest… I think it’s tough having to play her in the quarters. Is she in the top half as well? With Sabalenka, which I think, whole, I’m like, geez, crazy stacked. So maybe wish I were playing her a little bit later. But no, I love the challenge,” Pegula said.
Pegula mentioned that playing against Rybakina and Sabalenka has pushed her to improve various aspects of her game.
“To be honest, those girls, especially Aryna and Elena, have really pushed me to figure out how to become better at a lot of things. And I think in a way, we’ve all pushed each other. I need to serve bigger, I need to play more aggressively. I need to do a lot of things a lot better if I want to beat them at their best, and that’s something that always drives and pushes me,” she continued.
The former World No. 3 recalled having very “close” matches against Rybakina this year at the 2026 Australian Open and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, despite losing both.
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“And I’ve had a couple really close sets with her [Rybakina] where I feel like I at least should have taken a set, maybe in Australia or in Indian Wells. She’s been playing amazing tennis. She had a match point in the finals at Indian Wells. Then Aryna came back, and they had an incredible match,” she said.
Pegula acknowledged that Rybakina and Sabalenka are the “best players” in the world:
“So to me, they’re like the top two right now as far as when they’re playing well. I think they’re the best players in the world, and I’m just going to have to do my best to see what I can change this time,” Pegula added.
The winner of the quarterfinal match between Pegula and Rybakina at the 2026 Miami Open will advance to face either top seed Sabalenka or Hailey Baptiste in the semifinals of the tournament.
