INDIAN WELLS — Katerina Siniakova had already spent 319 minutes on court by the time she arrived for Monday’s third-round match at the BNP Paribas Open.

Across the net stood reigning champion Mirra Andreeva, the No. 8 seed on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, who needed just 50 minutes to defeat Solana Sierra after receiving a first-round bye.

But the contrast in court time offered little clue to how this one would unfold.

In a tense and occasionally testy contest, Siniakova rallied past Andreeva 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in 2 hours, 48 minutes to reach the Round of 16 at Indian Wells for the first time.

“I am, so much,” a delighted Siniakova said in press. “I think you could see it in the match that I was trying to slow it down, you know, just take my time.

“Yeah, I’m just so happy that I finish it, because my body is feeling it, definitely.”

The match had its dramatic moments. Both players directed comments to the chair umpire about their opponent and exchanged a few glares across the net. Fittingly, it ended with a net cord that fell Siniakova’s way on match point.

“Of course I’m happy it went on the other side,” Siniakova said. “I was, like, ‘Should I cheer or should …’ no, it’s really tricky finish.”

Clean or chaotic, the result was what mattered most. The victory sends Siniakova into the fourth round of a WTA 1000 event for the seventh time in her career.

Next up is Elina Svitolina, who defeated Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets. Svitolina holds a 4-0 edge in their head-to-head series, including a meeting here in Indian Wells in 2024.

The difference-makers

Break-point opportunities: Holding serve was not the strong suit for either player Monday. In total, there were 42 break-point opportunities, 31 of which came in the first two sets. It wasn’t an uncommon situation for Siniakova, who in her 3-hour and 28-minute win over Leylah Fernandez, played a total of 37 break-point opportunities. For comparison, Siniakova won just 54% of points on her serve, while Andreeva won just half of hers.

“I think both of us were a little bit struggling against the wind, so we were kind of losing the games on that side and winning on the other side,” Siniakova said.

“But, yeah, I was expecting her to go to my forehand. That’s what usually players do. So I was just happy I could, you know, return it well and get into the rallies, to the point, when I think I’m better.”

There were seven different games, where the receiver sprinted to a 0-40 lead to set up triple break-point opportunities. Though both Andreeva and Siniakova were each broken seven times, Siniakova saved 19 of the 26 break points she faced. The three most critical came in the final game, where Andreeva had three opportunities to get the match back on her serve, but Siniakova came in the clutch to serve out the match. 

Throughout the match, Siniakova excelled on the return, often using her backhand both crosscourt and down the line. Of her 27 winners, 21 of them came in the first two sets. 

Siniakova prevails in second-set tiebreak: Leading at both 4-2 and 5-4 in the second-set tiebreak, Andreeva was two points away from ending the match in straight sets and booking her spot to a second-straight Round of 16 at Indian Wells.

However, Siniakova rallied to win five of the final six points in the tiebreak — the final two points of the tiebreak were Andreeva forehand errors, her Achilles heel Monday afternoon. Andreeva now falls to 1-4 in set tiebreaks in 2026, while Siniakova has won both of her tiebreaks this season. 

Andreeva’s forehand frustrations: It was a sluggish start for the 18-year-old Andreeva. She quickly found herself down 3-0, dropping two games of serve, and several of her forehand shots went sailed or didn’t go over the net. Andreeva avoided a 4-0 deficit in the opening set after a Siniakova error, and Andreeva won the deuce with a forehand winner that just clipped the line.

Though Andreeva won six of the final seven games to take the first set, the forehand issues were scattered across her game. In the second set’s fourth game, Andreeva — leading 0-40 — failed to convert triple break point and another in the deuce, including a missed forehand winner. She lost the second-set tiebreak with missed, typically-routine forehand volley, too. In total, Andreeva recorded 75 unforced errors to Siniakova’s 62.

Those errors mounted to expressed frustration. From frequent complaints to her box to multiple racquet smashings, Andreeva ultimately received a code violation for throwing her racquet to her bench before smashing it a few more times after dropping the second-set tiebreak.