Jessica Pegula looked every bit aware of the stakes Thursday at King Saud University Indoor Arena, where scenarios swirled over who would advance from the Stefanie Graf Group to the WTA Finals semifinals.
WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play
She wasted little time, aiming to win as many games as possible while capitalizing on the hampered state of Jasmine Paolini, who appeared ill at times during the week and had already been eliminated from semifinal contention.
In the end, Pegula closed out a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Paolini in just 63 minutes, sealing the match with one final break.
“I finally got a straight sets win for the first time in a few months,” Pegula said after the match. “That always feels really good, but I thought I served really well and just played solid today. I was aggressive when I needed to be. There wasn’t much negative today.”
It marked her first straight sets win since defeating Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round in Beijing in late September, ending a streak of eight consecutive victories coming in three sets.
The result didn’t clinch a semifinal berth, but it moved her significantly closer to doing so. Pegula is assured of advancing as long as Coco Gauff doesn’t defeat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets later Thursday.
If that scenario unfolds, the tiebreaker will come down to the percentage of games won. Pegula has won 58% of her games in group play, narrowly trailing Sabalenka at 60% but ahead of Gauff at 51%.
All of that to say, barring something unforeseen, Pegula has put herself in a strong position to advance.
More to come…
