In 2026, Elena Rybakina is a woman on a mission. Having already lifted the trophy at the Australian Open, the 2023 Indian Wells champion is now setting her sights on a second title in Tennis Paradise.

Only Aryna Sabalenka — the woman whom she defeated in both finals — stands between Rybakina and lifting the fabled Baccarat crystal trophy again.

Bring on the rematch.

Two-time major champion Rybakina notched a 7-5, 6-4 victory over ninth-seeded Elina Svitolina on Friday night, extending her eye-catching streak of consecutive wins against Top 10 players to 12.

“Of course I’m going to fight as much as I can, and hopefully it’s going to be a great match,” Rybakina said after the win.

Contesting her seventh career meeting with Svitolina, the World No. 3 was broken in her opening service game but countered with a pair of breaks to claim an opening set in which she won 19 of 21 first-serve points.

Rybakina raced out to a 4-0 double-break lead in the second set and handled a bit of turbulence before closing out the win. The always scrappy Svitolina saved match points in two consecutive games to close within a break, then held to force Rybakina to serve it out.

The third match point was the charm for the 26-year-old, who improved to 16-3 lifetime at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and 17-3 overall in 2026.

“I cannot be super happy with my performance today,” said Rybakina. “I definitely need to get better before the final.”

Earlier on Friday, Sabalenka eased past Czechia’s Linda Noskova, 6-3, 6-4, to book her third career final in the California desert.

Rybakina and Sabalenka have met 16 times, with Sabalenka holding a slim 8-7 edge.

Zoom in on their finals, however, and things look completely different.

The pair have previously met in five finals, with Rybakina winning four of them — including a four-match winning streak in title matches that began in the 2023 final here in Stadium 1.

Frustrated by those losses, Sabalenka is motivated to change the tone of the rivalry.

“I'm so done losing these big finals,” she said. “It felt like even though players were playing incredible tennis in those finals, I had so many opportunities that I didn't use.

“And right now my mentality is that if I make it to the final, I'll go out there and do everything I can — and everything I cannot — to get that trophy.”