“I was thinking during the matches, why do I always have these matches here?” Pegula said. “Why, why? … I couldn’t tell you exactly why I seem to have wild matches here, but it’s definitely true.”
Down 0-2 and two breaks points to start the second set, the fifth-ranked Pegula rallied to force a third set and served for the match at 5-4, Putintseva breaking when Pegula sent a lob long.
In a grinding 11th game, Pegula finally converted her fourth break point when Putintseva blew a backhand at the net. Pegula finally sealed it on her second match point with a forehand winner, pumping her fist and heaving a huge sigh.
“It was a match where I could have tapped out … and mailed this in,” she said. “But I obviously did not want to do that. I wanted to power through and hopefully use this win to set up my clay-court swing long term, and the crowd helped me do that.”
Wednesday’s scores
Round of 32
McCartney Kessler, United States, def. Janice Tjen (12), Indonesia, 6-2, 6-1.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto (14), Italy, def. Yuan Yue, China, 6-0, 7-5.
Iva Jovic (4), United States, def. Alycia Parks, United States, 6-3, 6-2.
Peyton Stearns (17), United States, def. Ashlyn Krueger, United States, 7-6 (8), 7-5.
Anna Bondar, Hungary, def. Magdalena Frech (11), Poland, 7-5, 6-3.
Jessica Pegula (1), United States, def. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Paula Badosa, Spain, def. Maria Sakkari (10), Greece, 6-3, 6-4.
Leylah Fernandez (9), Canada, def. Polina Kudermetova, Russia, 6-2, 6-1.
Madison Keys (5), United States, def. Donna Vekic, Croatia, 6-2, 6-3.
Sofia Kenin (16), United States, def. Bianca Andreescu, Canada, 6-4, 6-4.
Yuliia Starodubtseva, Ukraine, def. Ekaterine Gorgodze, Georgia, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Renata Zarazua, Mexico, def. Hailey Baptiste (15), United States, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles
Round of 16