Charleston: Pegula wins first clay title to move back into Top 3
Pegula beats Kenin in straight sets to win her eighth WTA singles title
Zuma / Psnewz
Top seed Jessica Pegula defeated fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 to lift the Charleston Open trophy at the Family Circle Tennis Center on Sunday.
The final started with Pegula taking a 2-0 lead in the first set before Kenin, a former world No 4 and Australian Open winner, won three games on the trot to lead 3-2. From there, the American won four games in a row to claim the first set 6-3.
The second set started with Kenin building a 5-1 lead and holding three set points but Pegula stormed back to win six games in a row to win 6-3, 7-5 and claim her second title of the season (after Austin on hardcourts).
It was also the first career clay court title for the 31-year-old and her eighth overall singles title at the WTA Tour level.
I honestly didn’t think I was going to break her twice, but luckily, I could play some good tennis.
The win was her 25th of the season, the most for any player in 2025, and takes Pegula back to her career-best No 3 in the world rankings.
“She started to play a high level, there were a couple of games I didn’t get out of, didn’t break, didn’t hold. It was super windy, super tough conditions. If you lost focus for a split second or stopped moving your feet for a second, it just swings so fast. It was the same way for both of us,” Pegula said as quoted by the WTA Tour.
“In the second set, I just wanted to hold, I just wanted to tell myself to get momentum for the third, because coming into a third like that never feels good. I knew I could break her, too. I honestly didn’t think I was going to break her twice, but luckily, I could play some good tennis.”
Pegula, ranked No 4, beat Belarusian qualifier Iryna Shymanovich (6-0, 6-3), Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (6-3, 6-2), No 7 seed Danielle Collins (1-6, 6-3, 6-0) and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 9 seed (6-2, 2-6, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the tournament.
Earlier in the week, Kenin, ranked No 44, defeated Bernarda Pera (6-3, 6-4), Swiss Belinda Bencic, the No 17 seed (6-0, 6-3), Australian Daria Kasatkina, the No 5 seed (6-3, 7-6 (7)), Russian Anna Kalinskaya, the No 14 seed (6-4, 6-3) and No 8 seed Amanda Anisimova (5-2 ret.). Kenin moves up 10 spots to No 34 in the latest rankings following her run this week.
