No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula and world No. 20 Madison Keys have set up an all-American final at the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide.
On Friday, the top seed – who is playing her first tournament of the year – ousted 25th-ranked Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (4) 6-3.
Early in the match, Pegula blew an early break and then found herself 2-4 down in the tie-break.
However, the world No. 7 didn’t panic as she responded by winning the next five points to win the tie-break.
Up by a set, the 30-year-old also broke Putintseva in the sixth game of the second set and that was enough for the American to book an Adelaide final ticket.
Jessica Pegula© Adelaide International/Instagram- Fair Use
Pegula won in two sets while Keys was on the verge of losing in straight sets
Unlike the top seed, Keys had a very tough day at the office as Liudmila Samsonova was at one point just a game away from winning the match – the Russian led 7-5 5-4.
But after the world No. 26 started feeling her abdomen, the American went on to win the next six games and open a 5-7 7-5 3-0 lead.
That’s when Samsonova walked to the net and retired the match.
Following the match, Keys admitted that it wasn’t the ideal way to win but also noted that she was happy with her fighting spirit.
“Obviously not how you want to win a match, with a retirement, but I think I was very proud of myself today, being able to stay in the match,” the former world No. 7 said afterwards.
“She came out playing so well at the start. … Being able to just tough it out and staying in the match as long as I could, very happy about that.”
When the two Americans meet in the Adelaide final, it will be their third meeting.
Previously, Pegula won their 2022 San Diego match in two sets while Keys registered a straight-set win in their second match at the 2023 US Open.
Tennis World USA