Jessica Pegula recently weighed in on the hindrance rule invoked by Daniil Medvedev during his heated quarterfinal battle with Britain’s Jack Draper at the Indian Wells Open. The World No. 5 saw her own run at Indian Wells come to an end in the quarterfinal at the hands of Elena Rybakina, who ultimately fell short in the final against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Jessica Pegula Questions Hindrance Rule After Indian Wells Drama
Pegula dazzled at the Indian Wells Open, riding high after her Dubai Tennis Championships triumph. She dispatched former World No. 17 Donna Vekić and then toppled former World No. 5 Jeļena Ostapenko. In a thrilling round of 16, Pegula finally broke her losing streak against Swiss star Belinda Bencic, who had bested her in their previous four encounters.
Her run came to a halt in the quarterfinal, falling to Rybakina, who leads their head-to-head 5-3. On a recent episode of ‘The Player’s Box,’ Pegula, who teamed up with Draper at the 2025 US Open mixed doubles, weighed in on the hindrance call that cost Draper a crucial point in the second set.
As she discussed the rule, Pegula further highlighted that Serbian legend Novak Djokovic had also used the hindrance call rule during his doubles match with Stefanos Tsitsipas against Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot in the Indian Wells round of 16.
She expressed, “I think Medvedev got the idea from Novak. Did I make that up or he saw Novak do that? Obviously, it’s a new rule that’s changed this year. I think it’s kind of stupid. To go back and challenge something that already happened. Obviously if it was a double bounce, you won the point that’s fair.
“But for hindrance, it is a little weird that you can literally lose the point like five six shots later and go back. I don’t blame Daniil like I just think it’s a bad rule. I don’t think he meant to really like cheat the system.”
After sharing her views on the hindrance rule, Pegula also expressed her thoughts on Medvedev’s conversation with the umpire Aurelie Tourte, adding, “The conversation was really weird.”
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She was like, “Well, do you want to challenge?” And he was kind of like, “Well, I guess like if we have the challenge, I might as well challenge.” And then she ultimately made the decision. I just don’t think it was a great call.”
After her Indian Wells run, Pegula will return to action as one of the top seeds at the WTA 1000 Miami Open, which is taking place from March 17 to 29, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
