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.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
RSS