Elena Rybakina staged a gritty comeback to topple home favorite Jessica Pegula and book her place in the semifinals of the Miami Open. After dropping the opening set, the Kazakh regained her composure and battled through the next two to seal victory in 2 hours and 15 minutes, marking her third semifinal appearance at the event
Reflecting on the contest, Rybakina acknowledged her early frustration but shed light on how she steadied herself and turned the match around.
Elena Rybakina Explains Frustration During Quarterfinal Win Over Jessica Pegula
Despite her recent edge in the rivalry, Rybakina endured a shaky start against Pegula, with her error count making her struggles evident. The world No. 2 committed 12 unforced errors compared to Pegula’s two and eventually fell 2-6 in the opening set. At that stage, the momentum had firmly swung in the American’s favor.
However, Rybakina managed to get herself back into the contest, taking the second set 6-3 and forcing a decider. After garnering an opening break in the decider, she took a 3-1 lead, and even though Pegula tried to respond, she eventually fell 4-6 and exited the tournament.
Despite the win, Rybakina admitted she didn’t get off to the best start. Speaking to Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman, the two-time Grand Slam champion said she was frustrated by her mistakes, which affected her composure. She reset mentally in the second set, regained control, and turned the match around, while acknowledging the need to cut out similar errors moving forward.
“Today, it didn’t start the best. ,” she said. “And once I was frustrated with all my mistakes, I was rushing, and … I couldn’t stop my attitude. But, I am just happy that in second set, I went to take a break a little bit and managed to turn it around. But there is positive things to take but also to not have the same mistakes, I would say.”
Cool. Calm. Collected. 😎
Elena Rybakina on her tough win over Pegula 🗣️ #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/FiZSd2Pm6F
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 25, 2026
MORE: Elena Rybakina Says ‘Tough’ Aryna Sabalenka Rivalry Forces Her To Improve Weaknesses
After initially struggling in their rivalry, Rybakina has flipped the script against Pegula. Following a lengthy gap of nearly two years in their meetings, the Kazakh has asserted her dominance, winning five of their last encounters over the past seven months to surge ahead 6-3 in the head-to-head.
Rybakina will next face Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, with the clash serving as a rematch of their recent final at Indian Wells, where the Belarusian emerged victorious.
The rivalry remains finely poised with Sabalenka leading 9-7, and that edge, combined with a 61% win probability from PFSN’s Tennis Simulator, puts the world No. 1 in a strong position heading into the contest
