San Diego Open: Pegula reaches last eight in first tournament since Australian Open

American Jessica Pegula, the top seed, won against German qualifier Jule Niemeier 6-0, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of the San Diego Open at the Barnes Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Pegula, ranked No 5, will play the winner of the match between Russian Anna Blinkova and Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, the No 5 seed, next.

I haven’t played a tournament since Australian Open, so I knew I was going to be a little nervous and things were going to be weird.

Jessica Pegula

This is the American’s first tournament with her new coaching team which consists of Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein. Pegula split with David Witt, with whom she worked for five years, after the Australian Open.

“I haven’t played a tournament since Australian Open, so I knew I was going to be a little nervous and things were going to be weird,” the American said as quoted by the WTA Tour website. “But then I came out playing really well. I don’t think she was playing her best but I came out really strong. I know she’s the type of player who can make some really good shots, she has a lot of power and she’s super crafty. I knew if I gave her a chance she was going to try and make a run there at the end, which she did. I’m lucky that I’m standing here talking to you guys and not battling it out at the end of the second set.”

Niemeier, ranked No 126, defeated Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (6-3, 6-0) in the previous round of the San Diego tournament.

San Diego WTA 500, other second-round matches (Barnes Tennis Center, hard, USD 922,573):

• Katie Boulter beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (2): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Daria Saville (Q) beat Tatjana Maria: 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2
• Marta Kostyuk (6) beat Taylah Preston (WC): 6-4, 6-3
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Xinyu Wang
• Katerina Siniakova vs. Emma Navarro
• Donna Vekic vs. Marina Stakusic
• Anna Blinkova vs. Dayana Yastremska

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