Third-seeded American Jessica Pegula rallied for a 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Martina Trevisan of Italy on Wednesday at the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, to continue her recent stretch of stellar play.
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Pegula caught fire at the National Bank Open in Montreal last weekend, beating countrywoman and No. 6 seed Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals before tackling Polish No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the semis. Pegula then swept Russian 15th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the final for her third career WTA Tour victory.
That momentum has carried over to this week’s Cincinnati-area event, where, after a first-round bye, Pegula converted eight of 13 break points and never trailed against Trevisan following the first set.
“Since Wimbledon, I think I’ve made more of a conscious effort mentally to play more aggressively and I’ve just been seeing the ball, for whatever reason, pretty well,” Pegula said.
Pegula will face Belgian Elise Mertens or Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the next round. Mertens and Bouzkova were scheduled to play later Wednesday night.
Swiatek recovered nicely from her loss in Montreal to beat the United States’ Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-0 on Wednesday. Swiatek won 17 of 23 first-service points and converted seven of 11 break points to set up a meeting in the round of 16 with China’s Qinwen Zhang, a 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Venus Williams of the U.S.
“It was a really solid match and I felt I’m not doing a lot of mistakes,” Swiatek said. “I’m happy I didn’t give anything for free. … I could be proactive and not really overanalyze everything, just go for it. I’m happy that I did that.”
In an all-Czech showdown, Linda Noskova mustered a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 upset of ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova.
No. 10 seed Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova, who both hail from the Czech Republic, also won their matches. Vondrousova topped Russia’s Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2, while Muchova earned a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over Croatian Petra Martic in 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Other winners on Tuesday included 14th seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia, eighth-seeded Greek Maria Sakkari, Italian Jasmine Paolini and No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
In addition to the battle between Mertens and Bouzkova, three other matches were scheduled for later Wednesday. Americans Ann Li and No. 7 seed Coco Gauff were set to face No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Egyptian Mayar Sherif, respectively, while Croatia’s Donna Vekic prepared to play Belarusian Victoria Azarenka.
—Field Level Media
