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Jessica Pegula staged an impressive turnaround by saving four match points to beat Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals of the Charleston Open 2024 on Friday, April 5.
Pegula defeated Azarenka 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) after battling for two hours and 36 minutes to book her place in the semifinals. Both players broke each other five times during the match, while Azarenka committed a staggering 12 double faults, out of which seven came in the deciding set.
The first two sets witnessed less drama than the third as Pegula and Azarenka went back and forth teasing the finish line. The Belarusian stared at defeat in the tenth game of the final set while trailing 0-40 on serve. She, however, saved three match points in a row and then saved one more to stay afloat.
In the tiebreaker thereafter, it was Pegula's turn to come out of deep waters after falling behind 3-6. The American repeated what her opponent had done a few minutes ago and clinched a win.
Pegula realized one thing about herself through the effort; that she's a tough nut to crack.
"I'm just tough, I mean I'm not going to give it to you and even though I had a swing there where I kind of went off and she just played great tennis, I'm just tough," Jessica Pegula said in her on-court interview after the win.
Furthermore, Pegula leveled her head-to-head tally with Azarenka at 3-3 with the win on Friday. In the semifinals, she will take on Russia's Daria Kasatkina, against whom she enjoys a flawless 2-0 head-to-head record.
"You start the tiebreak and you feel like you should have already won" - Jessica Pegula on blowing match points against Victoria Azarenka in Charleston Open QF
Jessica Pegula also sat down at the Tennis Channel desk and talked about the rollercoaster of a battle with Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals of the Charleston Open 2024.
The World No. 5 regretted failing to close the match in the tenth game of the third set itself, saying:
"I totally let my emotions get me in the end. I started the tiebreak super nervous. I blew the match points. Whenever that happens, you start the tiebreak and you feel like you should have already won. It was super windy, it makes your nerves even worse. Nothing feels good. You're wobbling all over the place."
Pegula's semifinal against Daria Kasatkina is scheduled to be played under the sunlight on Saturday, April 6. In the second semifinal, Danielle Collins and third-seed Maria Sakkari will take on each other in what will be their fourth encounter on the tour, with the Greek holding a 2-1 lead.
