American No.1 Jessica Pegula survived and advanced Friday, rallying to beat former World No.3 Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Mubadala Citi DC Open quarterfinals.
“It was a tough quarterfinal,” Pegula said. “Definitely very humid today. Was a very physical and long, intense match… We were having really long points. There weren't a lot of quick points. It kind of just wears you down a little bit, especially as the match gets closer and tighter.”
After splitting the first two sets, Pegula broke Svitolina’s serve in the opening game of the third. Pegula held from there, saving five break points while serving at 3-2 in a game that featured several swings of momentum. Svitolina later saved two match points while serving at 3-5, before Pegula ultimately closed out the match on her serve one game later.
“If I didn’t serve that out, it might have been a quick 5-7 loss,” Pegula conceded. “I was so tired. I know that sounds terrible to say, it’s not what you’re supposed to be thinking… but it was super humid. A physical match.”
Pegula won her maiden WTA title in Washington in 2019 and improved to 11-3 lifetime in Rock Creek Park- the second most match wins by a female player here, behind only Ekaterina Makarova (14).
“I feel comfortable here, I’ve played a lot of matches on this court – and all the courts here – so it’s always fun to come back,” Pegula said. “It always feels like home, I love being in the States, I love being playing the US hardcourts so it’s always my favorite time.”
SEMIFINAL SET: PEGULA VS. SAKKARI
Pegula will next face Greek World No.9 Maria Sakkari, who worked a double shift Friday and earned a pair of straight-set wins on John Harris Court.
Sakkari first defeated Canadian wild card and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2 before returning a few hours later and holding off No.7 seed Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3.
Playing for the first time since she was upset in the first round at Wimbledon last month, Sakkari spent a total of 2 hours and 51 minutes on the court between her two matches Friday.
Sakkari is 4-3 lifetime against Pegula with the American winning their most recent meeting, in the semifinals in Doha in February.
Elsewhere Friday afternoon, defending women’s champion Liudmila Samsonova kept her perfect DC record intact. Samsonova improved to 8-0 lifetime in Washington as she held off Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-3 in quarterfinal action on John Harris Court.
Samsonova will next face either American World No.7 Coco Gauff or World No.15 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the semifinals on Saturday.
Bencic and Gauff meet in their quarterfinal match on Stadium Court Friday night.
