Commitment to and trust in herself have been the keys to Hailey Baptiste's long-awaited breakthrough

This time last year, Washington, D.C. native Hailey Baptiste was clinging on to the WTA's Top 100, and needed a wild card just to get into the Miami Open, where she won two matches to reach the third round.

What a difference 12 months makes.

On Monday, the 24-year-old will play in the Round of 16 at a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career after scoring the best win of her career by ranking on Sunday over world No. 9 Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 7-5. The win against the Ukrainian was Baptiste's second career Top 10 win—she beat a hampered Barbora Krejcikova in Wuhan in 2024—but beating the player who came into Miami with the most match wins on either the ATP or WTA this season made a strong statement.

"You can't get to this point without doing the right things, and I've definitely been putting in a lot of work off the court and on the court, behind the scenes, and it's clearly showing up," she told reporters afterwards.

"I've been here for a while, everybody pretty much knows what I can do and it's time for me to show it, I guess."

Baptiste has been more than showing it over nearly a year, beginning with her first Grand Slam fourth-round effort at Roland Garros last summer. Already in 2026, she reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time, and also reached her first WTA 500 semifinal in Abu Dhabi, where she was a point away from the final but lost in a tight three to Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Three days after that result, on the day she debuted in the Top 40 at No. 39, she split with coach Eric Hechtman, who took over the reins from Franklin Tiafoe, Frances' brother.

No matter who is in the coach's box, though, Baptiste says trusting herself and her decision-making is part of what's fueled her rise. A win against Ostapenko will push her up further still, past her previous career-high ranking, and near the Top 30.

"I've always kind of known how I should play, and you know there's moments where maybe I don't trust it as much, and right now, the last few months and over the past year, I've just been trying to trust my game and trust myself as much as possible. Obviously, belief is a huge part of getting wins," she said.

"I've always had a belief in myself and in my game, but I think it's just like doubling down on the belief and when you're in those tight moments, just trusting what you've done, the work you've put in, and going after it."