Charleston : Top seed Jessica Pegula was pushed to the brink again but battled through to the quarter-finals of the Charleston Open with a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(1) win over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Thursday.
A day after a three-set marathon against Yulia Putintseva, Pegula endured another stern test, recovering from a slow start and a 4-1 deficit in the deciding set before dominating the tiebreak.
She next faces seventh seed Diana Shnaider, who eased past Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-0.
Elsewhere, third seed Belinda Bencic defeated Sara Bejlek 7-6(4), 6-2, while fifth seed Madison Keys beat Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5.
In all-American clashes, McCartney Kessler edged Peyton Stearns 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, and 18-year-old Iva Jovic defeated Sofia Kenin 7-5, 7-5.
Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva routed Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-0 and will face Kessler in the quarter-finals, while Jovic meets eighth seed Anna Kalinskaya, who beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2.
At the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, upsets marked second-round action as Varvara Lepchenko defeated Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-0, 2-6, 7-5, and Argentina’s Jazmin Ortenzi stunned Camila Osorio 7-6(4), 7-6(5).
Colombia’s Emiliana Arango beat Spain’s Guiomar Maristany Zuleta de Reales 7-5, 6-2, while top seed Marie Bouzkova advanced after Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel retired.
