China Open: Pegula beats Kudermetova in three sets, Badosa next

American Jessica Pegula, the second seed, moved into the last 16 of the China Open by beating Russian Veronika Kudermetova, the No 32 seed, 6-7 (9), 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday.

This was Pegula’s first win over Kudermetova in three career meetings. The American has now won 17 of last 19 matches. Pegula, ranked No 3, will face Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 15 seed, next at the National Tennis Center in Beijing.

Pegula holds a 3-0 edge in head-to-head over Badosa, including a win in Cincinnati this year.

Ahead of her win today, the American won against Frenchwoman Diane Parry (6-1, 7-6 (4)).

“Every time I’ve played her, it’s always been really tough,” Pegula said after the win, as quoted by the WTA Tour website. “After I came back from 2-5 in the first set, I kind of knew what to do, I just had to execute in the next couple sets. I’m happy I was able to kind of figure that out and finally help my head-to-head against her.”

Kudermetova, ranked No 39, edged out Chinese Xinyu Wang (3-6, 6-4, 7-5) in the previous round of the tournament.

Beijing WTA 1000, other third-round matches (National Tennis Center, hard, USD 8,955,610):

• Yuliia Starodubtseva (Q) beat Elina Avanesyan: 6-3, 6-1
• Paula Badosa beat Rebecca Sramkova (Q): 7-5, 7-5
• Magdalena Frech (23) beat Diana Shnaider (12): 0-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Nadia Podoroska vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Amanda Anisimova
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Donna Vekic
• Jasmine Paolini vs. Magda Linette
• Karolina Muchova vs. Jaqueline Cristian
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Elise Mertens
• Madison Keys vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ashlyn Krueger
• Katie Boulter vs. Coco Gauff
• Katie Volynets vs. Naomi Osaka
• Shuai Zhang vs. Greet Minnen
• Peyton Stearns vs. Anna Kalinskaya

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