Australian qualifier Talia Gibson was unable to continue her extraordinary run at Indian Wells, falling in the quarter-finals to Czech world No.14 Linda Noskova.
The Australian had eliminated three top-20 players to reach the final eight, marking her first-ever main draw appearance at a WTA 1000 event.
And while she took a set off Noskova and showed some fight, she eventually went down 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, in 98 minutes.
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Talia Gibson of Australia. Getty
The quarter-final run will see the 21-year-old enter the top 70 – a career high.
Gibson stunned world No.7 Jasmine Paolini in a dramatic round of 16 clash that guaranteed her prizemoney of $270k.
Before that she defeated 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and 17th seed Clara Tauson.
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Leading into the tournament, her highest world ranking was No. 105, and she’d never cracked the top 100 or won a main draw match.
Now Gibson is guaranteed to leap more than 45 spots and break into the world’s top 70, a feat that will open doors to direct entry into the year’s remaining three grand slams.
Noskova qualified for the second WTA 1000 semi-final of her career, following Beijing last year.
The Czech had not advanced past the round of 16 in any event in 2026.
It’s the furthest she’s advanced in any of her four appearances at Indian Wells.
Noskova will next face world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Victoria Mboko in straight sets to reach her third Indian Wells semi-final.