Jessica Pegula yesterday fought back to beat fellow American Emma Navarro 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-1 for a date with Linda Noskova in the China Open semi-finals.
Getting past 26th-seeded Noskova would guarantee an all-American final in Beijing, against either defending champion Coco Gauff or Amanda Anisimova.
There has never been an all-US final at the tournament since its 2004 launch.
Photo: AFP
“She did a good job of staying tough, but at the same time I felt I was playing the right way,” Pegula, seeded five, said.
It was a meeting of wealth on Beijing’s Diamond Court.
Local tennis enthusiasts, known to nickname their favorite players, call 31-year-old Pegula Dafu, “big rich” in Chinese.
Photo: Reuters
They call 24-year-old Navarro the Chinese equivalent of “second rich,” a nod to the billionaire families of both players.
“I guess the bigger Dafu won today, I don’t know,” Pegula said.
Navarro, seeded 16, who lost both previous meetings to Pegula, fended off six set points to force a first-set tiebreak and carried that momentum to win the set.
Pegula came back fighting, allowing Navarro precious few chances to break and stormed to victory.
“I told myself to not get too frustrated,” Pegula said. “That kind of allowed me to play more free.”
Noskova of the Czech Republic brushed aside Britain’s unseeded Sonay Kartal 6-3, 6-4.
Kartal, the world No. 81, was playing in her first WTA 1000-level quarter-final after defeating fifth-ranked Mirra Andreeva.
Gauff and US Open finalist Anisimova are to face off in the other semi-final today.
The only Americans to win the WTA China Open have been world No. 3 Gauff and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.
Earlier in the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the fourth seeds, defeated Olivia Nicholls of Britain and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 to advance to a semi-final against Italian second seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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