Pegula beats Alexandrova in Charleston, reaches her fourth final for the season
Jessica Pegula edged out Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 on Saturday. She’ll face the winner of the match between Amanda Anisimova and Sofia Kenin next
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American Jessica Pegula, the top seed, reached the final of the Charleston Open by edging out Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 9 seed, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 at the Family Circle Tennis Center on Saturday.
Pegula and Alexandrova fought hard for two hours, 21 minutes as the final set breached the one-hour mark.
The American came out all guns blazing and served to dish out a bagel in the opening set but Alexandrova converted a break point to avoid the humiliation. The Russian then gathered herself and equalised by taking the second set.
In the decider, the two players relied more on breaking than holding as the set saw seven breaks of serve, with Pegula securing four to prevail.
“That was a tough match,” Pegula told Tennis Channel after the win. “It wasn’t the prettiest a times, it was really windy, there were some awkward shots. So it was just trying not to get frustrated, having to move your feet a lot.
“I tried to slow my serve down a little bit and tried to hit more like high kicks in the wind because when it’s right in her slot, it comes back harder and faster. So, I was trying to hit a little bit slower.”
Pegula, ranked No 4, will play the winner of the match between No 8 seed Amanda Anisimova and Sofia Kenin next. It will be Pegula’s fourth WTA final for the season. She previously played the title clashes in Adelaide, Austin and Miami.
The American won against Belarusian qualifier Iryna Shymanovich (6-0, 6-3), Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (6-3, 6-2) and No 7 seed Danielle Collins (1-6, 6-3, 6-0) in the previous rounds of the Charleston tournament.
Earlier in the tournament, Alexandrova, ranked No 26, beat American Ann Li (6-3, 6-0), No 6 seed Diana Shnaider (6-2, 6-1) and Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 3 seed (6-1, 6-4).
Charleston WTA 500, other semi-final result (Family Circle Tennis Center, clay, USD 1.064.510):
- Amanda Anisimova vs. Sofia Kenin
