Pegula defeats Vekic from a set down in Indian Wells opener

Jessica Pegula defeated Donna Vekic 4–6, 6–2, 6–3 to begin her Indian Wells campaign. The one-hour-fifty-five-minute victory extended the fifth seed’s winning streak to six matches after her Dubai championship and kept her unbeaten in three meetings with the Croatian.

Vekic took the opening set after losing their earlier grass-court meetings in straight sets. Pegula recovered without allowing that lead to grow, converting five of seven break opportunities while Vekic converted only two from the same number of chances.

The result left Vekic with five deciding-set defeats during the season, all after winning the opener. Pegula advanced to face Jelena Ostapenko, who had beaten American wildcard Kate Volynets, as the Dubai champion sought another deep run at a major hard-court tournament.