Elena Rybakina cruised into the Miami Open round of 16 after she eased her way past Marta Kostyuk in straight sets on Sunday. 

Rybakina, fresh from her Indian Wells final loss to Aryna Sabalenka, barely got out of second gear on her way to an impressive 6-3 6-4 victory in just over an hour and 20 minutes. 

The second seed broke Kostyuk in the fourth game and held her serve from then on, before continuing to assert her dominance in another comfortable set. 

Rybakina notched the pivotal break in her opponents penultimate service game, where the Ukrainian double-faulted, before the two-time runner-up sealed her progression with a forehand winner down the line. 

"I'm happy with the way I served today," said Rybakina, who also defeated Kostyuk at Indian Wells last month.

"Today, Marta was trying to step in, same way as Indian Wells, but it's more difficult here on this court with the conditions.

"I think I was solid pretty much throughout the whole match, and some moments [I] got lucky with the net cord and maybe some lines, but I'm happy with the results."

Consistency

Elena Rybakina defeats Kostyuk 6-3, 6-4 and is into her fourth R16 at WTA 1000 level this year!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/N0yrDAJQx1

— wta (@WTA) March 22, 2026

Rybakina's reward is a clash with Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, who stunned Iva Jovic earlier in the day with a 6-2 6-2 triumph. 

Gibson is the third player to reach the last 16 at Indian Wells and Miami in the same season as a qualifier or lucky loser, after Gisela Dulko (2004) and Varvara Gracheva (2023).

Elsewhere, there was an early exit for seventh seed Jasmine Paolini after she let a first-set lead slip against Jelena Ostapenko, who emerged a 5-7 6-2 7-5 victor. 

But there was no such trouble for Jessica Pegula, who is looking to become the second American to win the Miami title since the event became a WTA 1000 tournament.

Pegula needed just 66 minutes to earn a 6-2 6-2 victory over Leylah Fernandez to tee up a clash with Jaqueline Cristian next. 

Data Debrief: Consistency is key for Rybakina

Rybakina will still be hurting from her Indian Wells campaign, and she is going about rectifying that near miss in dominant fashion here, having yet to drop a set in her opening two matches of the tournament in Miami. 

She has also now reached the fourth round of 16 in four WTA-1000 events this year, and is the only player to achieve that during the season. 

But with Pegula still in the tournament, anything is possible. The Miami Open is the third WTA level event where she has claimed 20+ main draw wins (along with the US and the Australian Open).