Top seed Jessica Pegula on Thursday lost 10 straight games and trailed 4-0 in the final set before rallying to reach the Charleston Open quarter-finals.
Pegula of the US, ranked No. 3 in the world, led the top four seeds including fourth seed and defending champion Belinda Bencic into the quarter-finals in the season’s first clay-court tournament.
No match was the equal of Pegula’s fight with Irina-Camelia Begu, who was down 4-0 in the second set and two games away from a quick exit until finding her game.
Photo: AFP
Begu, the 15th seed, strung together a 10-game winning streak to turn things around. Pegula dug in to win the final six games and the exhausting match 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
“That was a pretty crazy match,” Pegula said.
No doubt.
Pegula would have to try to find more consistency against 12th seed Paula Badosa, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Diana Snaider, for a spot in today’s semi-finals.
Others moving on were second seed Ons Jabeur, third seed Daria Kasatkina and Bencic, who topped Jabeur to win last year’s event on Charleston’s green clay.
Jabeur beat Caroline Dolehide 6-3, 7-5; Kasatkina defeated Bernarda Pera 6-3, 7-6 (7/3); and Bencic bounced back after losing the opening set to oust Shelby Rogers 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Pegula did not totally understand how things went so wrong, then turned right again.
“What was going through my mind is: ‘I can’t believe I’ve lost six games in a row, seven games in a row, eight, nine, 10,’” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve been up like that and consecutively lost like that many games as well, so I was just frustrated, but was able to relax and played a pretty good game [down 4-0 in the third].”
Pegula thought if she could stop Begu’s winning streak, she could fight back.
“And then it just switched really quickly,” Pegula said.
Jabeur was to take on Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azerenka 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
Jabeur, who reached the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open last season, likes where her game is early in the buildup to Roland Garros next month.
“I’m getting used to the clay more,” she said. “The most important thing [is] I’m enjoying myself on the court and hopefully it will continue to be better and better.”
Kasatkina was to play past Charleston winner, ninth seed Madison Keys, who got past eighth seed Magda Linette 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Bencic was to face Ekaterina Alexandrova, who defeated Julia Grabher 6-4, 6-2.
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