Jessica Pegula’s Cincinnati Open campaign has seen more twists and turns than a King Island roller coaster — but the No. 3 seed keeps finding a way to win.
Pegula’s latest escape? A 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 semifinal win over defending champion Iga Swiatek on Saturday that lasted nearly 3 hours and snapped the Pole’s 10-match winning streak in the process.
Pegula trailed 3-1 in the final set before coming back to book a spot in Sunday’s championship in what she dubbed a “crazy” match — marking her second trip to the Cincinnati final in the last three years.
“I felt like we were playing well at times and then not playing well at times, so it was really tough to get a gauge on the match,” she said, “so [I’m] really happy with the way I was able to handle a lot that was going on today.”
The win was Pegula’s third straight three-setter — all in the last four days — and followed a quarterfinal win against Amanda Anisimova where she took an off-court medical timeout. But after taking a complete rest day on Friday — she didn’t even come to the tournament site — the World No. 3 confessed to feeling “much better” against Swiatek.
“I had played enough tennis the last couple days, and when I came out this morning … I didn’t feel anything at all that was ailing me in the match against Amanda,” she said.
More to come…