Jessica Pegula reached the Charleston Open semifinal and did it in quite some style as the world No. 4 was heading toward being demolished before coming back to win 1-6 6-3 6-0.
Early on in an all-American quarterfinal battle, Danielle Collins dominated and opened a 6-1 2-0 lead. The 2022 Australian Open runner-up also had 15-30 on Pegula’s serve in the third game and was only two points away from going up by a set and a double break.
But then, the No. 4 seed won the third game – claimed breaks in the fourth and eighth games to overturn the deficit and open a 5-3 lead – before serving out for the second set in the following game.
Going the distance on Stadium 🔅
Pegula claws back from 0-2 in the second set to take it 6-3 over Collins!#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/31i3wrERaJ
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 4, 2025
From that moment on, there was only one player on the court and it was Pegula. After allowing the 2024 US Open runner-up to get back into the match, Collins’ game totally fell apart as she didn’t win a single game in the decider.
Pegula keeps her perfect record against Collins, could meet next another big name
Going into their Charleston match, the world No. 4 owned a perfect 5-0 record. Today, Collins appeared to be heading toward her first win in their meetings but ultimately fell short in her bid.
In the Charleston semifinal, Pegula will play against the winner of the match between No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen and ninth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova. If the fourth-seeded American meets the third-seeded Chinese, that should be an absolute blockbuster and an outstanding semifinal for a WTA 500 tournament.
In the last two years, Pegula saw her Charleston run end in the semifinal. On Saturday, she will try to end her curse and finally make her first final at the tournament at the age of 31.
Tennis World USA