Jessica Pegula defeated Anna Kalinskaya by saving five championship points to win the Berlin Open and solidify her place in the Wimbledon championship.
The athlete wins her first WTA Tour championship on grass with this victory. Moreover, she advanced to the Wimbledon quarter-finals before falling to eventual winner Marketa Vondrousova in three sets.
Pegula’s performance at the Berlin Open
She first defeated world No. 2 and doubles partner Coco Gauff in her rain-delayed semi-final match last Sunday, winning 7-5, 7-6 (7-2).
Currently world No. 5, Pegula had to battle her way back against Kalinskaya of Russia, overcoming a 1-4 disadvantage in the third set to win the match 6-7 (0-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
Now, the 30-year-old player is expected to compete at the Eastbourne International before the start of Wimbledon on July 1.
In other news, Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan defeated Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) at the Birmingham Classic to attain her maiden grass-court championship.
Her previous two victories had come on clay courts, so this was her first championship in three years.
“It’s my first on grass and I don’t even know how I’m feeling because I wasn’t expecting this to happen at all,” the 29-year-old athlete said.
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula in the Cincinnati Open final to win her first championship since the Australian Open in January.
It took the athlete 76 minutes to complete a 6-3, 7-5 victory, her 15th career title overall and her sixth at the WTA 1,000 level. Unfortunately, the outcome ended Pegula’s nine-match winning streak.
With her victory, Sabalenka admitted: “This trophy means a lot, it is a really big achievement, especially coming after injury, with this fear of getting injured again.”
She added: “My team did everything they could to make sure I felt as good as I can and I am proud of myself that I was able to handle all of those emotions.”
Highlight of the match
After winning her fourth game, Sabalenka—who will now be ranked second in the world—simply dominated the opening set.
When serving for the title at 5-4 in the second set, she made a small mistake and sixth seed Pegula broke back to tie the match. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion bounced back and won the match.
The 26-year-old, who won the semifinal match over Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked player in the world, will play again at the US Open, which begins on August 26.
Belarus’ world No. 2 player Sabalenka defeated American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 to win the US Open for the first time.
After winning the Australian Open in January for the second year in a row, Sabalenka has now won three grand slam singles titles in her career. Since Angelique Kerber in 2016, she is the first woman to win a grand slam on a hard court. Furthermore, Sabalenka qualified for the US Open final this year for the second consecutive year.
With her victory, the athlete declared: “So many times I was so close to get a US Open title… It’s always been a dream of mine. Finally, I got this beautiful trophy.”
In a social media post, Sabalenka further said: “Still speechless. A moment I will never forget, a feeling that is so hard to put into words… Thank you to everyone who cheered me on, who believed in me and encouraged me to keep fighting.”
After Sabalenka took a 3-0 lead in the first set, Pegula won the next five games, which gave the American a 5-3 lead in the second set.
Nevertheless, Sabalenka would not allow Pegula to force a third set as she won the next four games to end the match.
Having a competitive season, Pegula admitted: “It’s been an incredible month for me, really… I had a rough start to the year but was really able to turn it around. To be able to be standing here in my first grand slam final, and then coming off such a hot summer, I didn’t expect it. I’m just really grateful for the last few weeks of tennis and some incredible matches I’ve been able to put together.”
Sabalenka and her success
Sabalenka considered her personal meaning of success. She remarked: “Well, it’s always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis after I lost my father.”
She added: “Every time I see my name on that trophy, I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my family that they never gave up on my dream and that they were doing everything they could to keep me going.”
Iga Swiatek, ranked number one in the world, ended her 21-match winning streak at Wimbledon when she lost shockingly to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the third round.
The athlete had been unbeaten in her matches for about three months, during which she had won the French Open with dominance. After she won the opening set 6-3 in the game, it looked as though her run would continue. However, Putintseva, ranked 35th in the world, came back and won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the next two sets by dropping just three games.
With her loss, Swiatek admitted: “My tank of really pushing myself to the limits became suddenly empty… I was kind of surprised. But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn’t really rest properly. I’m not going to make this mistake again.”
Swiatek playing on grass courts
Following an outstanding clay court season, Swiatek did not participate in any warm-up tournaments on grass, and she stated that she must remain patient with herself and accept that she will make mistakes as she plays on grass courts.
“For me going from this kind of tennis where I felt like I’m playing the best tennis in my life to another surface where I kind of struggle a little bit more, it’s not easy,” Swiatek expressed.
Putintseva’s rising success in Wimbledon
On the other hand, Putintseva, her opponent, has had an incredible grass court season. She won her first championship last month in Birmingham and is currently making her way to the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time ever.
In the opening set, Putintseva gave hints of her ability on grass when she made plays so delicate to save set point or a masterful backhand crosscourt passing shot that troubled Swiatek. Even though Swiatek was too strong in the opening set, Putintseva steadily weakened her strategy and won the second set to even the score.
She stayed steady and unwavering in the third set as Swiatek made a number of unusual unforced errors, finishing with a number of 38 errors at the end of the game as opposed to Putintseva with only 15.
Putintseva admitted: “At some point I was playing fearless… I was just, I can do it, I have to believe 100 percent, I have nothing to lose, just go for it. Also my coach told me, “No matter which shot you’re doing, believe 100 percent and just follow.””
The athlete is now preparing to battle against Jelena Ostapenko to have a place in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova retires hurt, title defence in doubt
Defending Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova retired hurt from her second-round match against Anna Kalinskaya at the Berlin Ladies Open.
The world number 6 was up 5-3 and serving for the first set when she had a nasty fall on the baseline.
After off-court treatment, she returned heavily strapped up to play two games but retired with the set tied at 5-5.
The injury raises doubts about whether she will be able to defend her Wimbledon title, with less than two weeks to recover before the competition starts.
Vondrousova is scheduled to start her title defence with a first-round match at the All England Club on Centre Court on July 2.
The Czech was a surprise winner at Wimbledon last year, beating the Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the final to claim her first Grand Slam.
The 24-year-oldbecame the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title.
Berlin results
Eight of the world’s top 10 women are competing in Berlin, with only top-ranked Iga Swiatek and world number seven Jasmine Paolini not in the fray.
Russia’s Kalinskaya , who advanced to the next round when Vondrousova retired hurt, will now face world number three Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka brushed aside Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4.
Elsewhere on Thursday (June 20), 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5.
Rybakina will now face former world number 1 Victoria Azarenka in a bid to advance to her first grass-court semi-final since her Wimbledon triumph.
Meanwhile, Jabeur prevailed against Linda Noskova to set up a quarter-final match against Coco Gauff.
World number two Gauff beat Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.
Gauff defeated Jabeur at the French Open earlier this month.
Gauff, 20, will make her Olympic debut in Paris after being named a member of the US women’s singles team.
The American missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for Covid-19.
Following her triumph at the Hana Bank Korea Open, fourth-ranked player Jessica Pegula posted a heartfelt message on her social media platform, X, revealing her inspiration for winning the tournament.
She wrote in the message that, as a half-Korean woman, this victory was especially meaningful to her. She also mentioned that her mother is presently battling health issues, which is why she made it her goal to win the tournament in honor of her mother.
The post reads, “This one is extra special. I am half Korean. I don’t speak and I am still learning about my culture (my mom was adopted and left on a doorstep of a Korean police station) but I have been overwhelmed by the support from Korean fans. My mom visited her orphanage here when I played this event 4 years ago. It was the first time she felt open about learning about her past. Her health struggles the past year made this tournament a goal to win. It has been such an honor to play in front of you. 감사합니다 🙏🏼”
This one is extra special. I am half Korean. I don’t speak and I am still learning about my culture (my mom was adopted and left on a doorstep of a Korean police station) but I have been overwhelmed by the support from Korean fans. My mom visited her orphanage here when I played… pic.twitter.com/2kUpnEZ2J2
Pegula triumphed in a spectacular final match, defeating Yuan Yue in a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory after almost an hour and a half of play.
With her remarkable stint and victory at the Korea Open, Pegula became the second American tennis player to win the Korea Open after Serena Williams in 2007, according to ESPN. In addition, this also marks Pegula’s fourth title in her career and her second one this season.
At the awards ceremony, Pegula, in her speech, took the chance to reveal her roots, beginning with “For those that don’t know, I’m half Korean.”
She then shared that although she doesn’t speak their language, she loves Korean BBQ and kimchi, a food that’s hailed as a symbol of Korean identity and pride.
“In the last few years, as my ranking has gone up, I’ve definitely felt so much more support from the fans, a lot more than I expected coming back here from five years ago. So, it’s really special. So thank you guys so much for coming out. I hope you can come next year and support me and all the other girls as well. It’ll be a lot of fun,” Pegula continued.
Last August, Pegula also made a splash on the news when she defeated Russian player Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 in the final and clinched the Montreal Open title, following Serena Williams’ footsteps and becoming the first U.S. player to win the tournament in Canada since 2013.
“We’re out on tour to win tournaments and to win titles every single week, but tennis can be really tough where you sometimes lose a lot,” Pegula said, as per the WTA tour. “Even when you’re winning a lot of matches, you’re still not winning tournaments, so it can get tough.
