Defending champion and top seed Jessica Pegula on Thursday fought back to reach the WTA Charleston Open quarter-finals, requiring a final-set tiebreak to see off Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1).
A resilient Pegula, the world No. 5 from the US, eventually progressed just a day after laboring more than three hours to beat 72nd-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
The latest hard-fought win, clocking in at just over two hours, was revenge for Pegula, who was stunned by Cocciaretto at Wimbledon last year.
Photo: AFP
Cocciaretto, ranked 43rd in the world, dominated the first set.
Pegula’s serve was notably wayward, with the American winning just 25 percent of first-serve points.
“I don’t know what I was doing out there... Oh my gosh, that’s horrible,” Pegula said.
Pegula rallied in the second set, but was immediately broken in a topsy-turvy final set, in which she trailed 1-4. The American hauled it back to 4-4, but then found the net on a break point that would have given her the lead.
Two points from defeat at 4-5, Pegula fought back to 5-5 and they advanced into a deciding tiebreak.
Pegula drew first blood, going up 1-0 off Cocciaretto’s serve, then won every point on her own serve before Cocciaretto double-faulted to hand her the match.
“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, I think, at the end, and then I just held my nerve,” Pegula said.
Pegula, who won the title in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February, next faces Russia’s Diana Shnaider — a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.
Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic also advanced, shrugging off a slow start to beat Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 and line up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seeded American Madison Keys.
Keys beat Hungary’s Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5.
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