IN-FORM American Jessica Pegula‘s recent form rolled on with her sixth straight victory to book her place in the third round of Indian Wells today. The fourth seed notched up her WTA Tour 80th victory in the process when knocking off Poland’s Magda Linette 6-4 6-2 and winning her third straight match against the world number 36.

Hitting four more winners (16-12) and critically 16 less unforced errors (21-37), Pegula broke five times to two, winning 68 per cent of her first serve points and 58 per cent of her second serve points. By comparison, Linette won just 56 and 40 per cent respectively, as one of the top ranked local hopes cruised into the third round in an hour and 16 minutes.

While Pegula conceded due to the weather conditions it “wasn’t the prettiest performance” she was happy that she was able to still take control of the match and come away with the win.

“I was able to handle the side with the wind pretty well, and really take advantage of using that for my serve,” Pegula said post-match. “And then just being a little gritty, digging out some tough points on the side that was against the wind. It was just a few point here and there, especially in the first.”

After a shock first round loss in the desert 12 months earlier, Pegula is on track to pick up some vital points at the WTA1000 event. Up next she faces China’s Xinyu Wang who has a surprising 2-0 record over the American. Given the form Pegula is in though, she looms as hard to beat as the fourth seed hopes to go deep at this year’s event.

In other results, world number two Iga Swiatek made light work of Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-0, while in-form Dane Clara Tauson and dangerous seventh seed Elena Rybakina also advanced through to the next round. From the local hopes, teenage wildcard Iva Jovic secured her spot in the Round of 64 with a hard-fought win over Austrian Julia Grabher following a delay on day two.