Elena Rybakina did not have it all her own way against Hailey Baptiste in her first match at Indian Wells.
Rybakina won Indian Wells in 2023, and is one of the favorites for this year’s title as the Australian Open champion.
However, the world number three had to save three set points to win the first set, but Baptiste was able to force a decider after winning the second set.
After Rybakina came through to win the match 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-2, she admitted she found it difficult to hit certain shots against Baptiste.
Elena Rybakina admits she found it hard to return Hailey Baptiste’s serve
Rybakina has one of the best serves on the WTA Tour, but she only won 65% of her points on first serve against Baptiste.
When asked about her comeback in the first set, Rybakina admitted that she was rushing her serve due to the difficult conditions in Indian Wells.
“Well, I was a little bit rushing on the serve since it was windy,” Rybakina said in her post-match press conference. “So I was just trying to play point at a time and not focus so much on the score, because in these conditions, anything can change quickly. Yeah, it’s slow courts, quite heavy balls. It’s not easy to move them.
“Yeah, I was just trying to stay in the match. Dropped a little bit the energy in the second set, but overall, happy that I found my way in the end.”
How many Grand Slam titles does Elena Rybakina win in her career?
As well as the challenging conditions, Rybakina was also asked about the difficulties Baptiste’s game caused her, with the two-time Grand Slam champion admitting she struggled on return.
“She was staying aggressive,” said Rybakina. “As I said, she was serving well, and her second serve is quite tough to step in. Sometimes it was bouncing really high and also, again, the wind, you had to adjust quickly.
“So, yeah, she has a pretty good forehand, good slice, and I was trying to move a little bit the ball, but with the conditions, it was not easy. Also energy level was up and down a bit from my side.
Yeah, but I think she played really well.”
Baptiste had a breakthrough season in 2025, which included reaching her career-high ranking of world number 47.
The American fell down to world number 70 at the start of the year, but Baptiste has started to find form again and improved her career-high ranking to world number 39 last month.
Elena Rybakina suggests if she was happy with how she played in the third set
Although Rybakina struggled in the first two sets against Baptiste, she was a lot more uncomfortable in the decider.
Despite being more comfortable in the third set, Rybakina has admitted that she still has improvements to make in future matches.
“Yeah, it was a bit better, but still, I would say that it’s not my best,” said Rybakina. “I should have find solution quicker, whenever I had the opportunity when I was up.
“Yeah, some decisions also was a bit wrong. Yeah, something for me to definitely work on.”
Who will win Indian Wells in 2026?
Vote now!
Rybakina will have an opportunity to make these improvements in her next match against Marta Kostyuk.
Kostyuk won the first match in their head-to-head, but Rybakina has won their three most recent meetings, dropping just nine games.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
