Defending champion and top seed Jessica Pegula reached the quarter-finals of the WTA Charleston Open on Thursday after a hard-fought 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1) win over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, reports AFP.
The world number five from the United States displayed resilience just a day after enduring more than three hours on court to defeat 72nd-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Cocciaretto, ranked 43rd, dominated the opening set as Pegula struggled with her serve, winning only 25 percent of first-serve points. “I don’t know what I was doing out there… Oh my gosh, that’s horrible,” Pegula admitted.
Pegula fought back to claim the second set, but the final set was a rollercoaster. She fell behind 1-4 before rallying to 4-4. After a missed break point at 4-4, Pegula faced two points from defeat at 4-5, yet battled back to 5-5, forcing a decisive tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, Pegula immediately seized momentum, winning her service points and capitalizing on a double fault from Cocciaretto to secure the victory. “She beat me the last time we played, so there was a bit of a mental thing too, but I was able to serve really well at the end,” Pegula said. “And then I just held my nerve.”
Pegula, who also claimed the Dubai title in February, will next face Russia’s Diana Shnaider, who defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-0.
Elsewhere, Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic overcame a slow start to beat Czech Sara Bejlek 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, setting up a quarter-final against fifth-seeded American Madison Keys, who defeated Hungarian Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
