INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It took 18 games and nearly 100 points for Jessica Pegula to find a foothold.

Jelena Ostapenko dictated the opening set and a half of Monday’s round of 32 matchup at the BNP Paribas Open, using precise, aggressive hitting to keep her opponent pinned behind the baseline and on the defensive.

But once Pegula steadied her serve and began reading Ostapenko’s delivery more effectively, the momentum shifted … and quickly.

Pegula, the fifth-ranked player on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, recovered from a sluggish start to defeat Ostapenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, advancing to the Round of 16 for the second straight year and the third time in four years.

“I think today I had to kind of snap myself back and kind of lock in, because [the negativity] then obviously it starts to affect everything,” Pegula said in press afterward. “I kept telling myself I wasn’t actually playing bad.

“It’s one thing you’re frustrated you’re not playing well. I didn’t think I was playing bad. I thought I was playing pretty well. It was just letting a couple chances, couple breaks here and there, maybe a couple shots that I could have been more aggressive on.”

Pegula finished with 11 aces — the most she has ever hit in a WTA Tour-level match — and only one double fault. Ostapenko had three aces but was broken five times. 

For much of the first set and early in the second, Ostapenko struck the ball cleanly and with authority, dictating rallies and threatening to run away with the match. Pegula stayed patient, limiting unforced errors and gradually finding more consistent depth on her groundstrokes.

“Jelena is always really tough, can be very frustrating with the way she’s able to hit winners and take time away,” Pegula said. “Yeah, can be really hard. So luckily I was able to just hold onto my serve there in the second set and find chances to break, but yeah, it was really tough.”

Key match turning points

The streak: From the middle of the second set to the beginning of the third, Pegula won six straight games to seize control.

Third-set pressure: Ostapenko saved a break point in the third game of the final set to hold for a 2-1 lead.

The equalizer: In the following game, Pegula fired her 10th ace to hold comfortably for 2-2.

And finally: At 2-2 in the third, Pegula secured the decisive break. Two games later, she broke again, punctuating the lead with a scorching crosscourt forehand winner on the return.

Pegula will next face Belinda Bencic, who took care of Elise Mertens, 6-2, 6-3, for a place in the quarterfinals. Pegula is 0-4 in her career against Bencic, but they have not played in three years. 

Bencic marches past Mertens to reach Indian Wells Round of 16

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