INDIAN WELLS, California : Jessica Pegula saved a match point before battling past Linda Noskova 7-6(2) 4-6 7-5 on Thursday to reach the WTA Finals semi-finals, eliminating fellow American Coco Gauff from the season-ending tournament.
Pegula fired a career-high 16 aces while Wimbledon champion Noskova produced a personal best 15 double faults in a fluctuating contest that lasted two hours and 45 minutes.
“I’ve learned that sometimes the serve feels good and sometimes it doesn’t, and how to manage the days when it doesn’t and to ride it when you are serving well,” Pegula told reporters.
“I don’t think I served that well in my first couple matches and I served great today. Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason.”
Noskova, Pegula and Gauff all finished the round-robin stage with 2-1 records, while alternate Marta Kostyuk lost all three matches.
Noskova topped the group with a 5-2 record in sets, followed by Pegula at 5-3 and Gauff at 4-3, with the American missing out on a semi-final place despite beating Kostyuk earlier in the day.
Pegula will face Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s semi-final, setting up their first meeting.
“It’s the match people wanted, well now you are going to get it,” Pegula said.
The American had previously described Andreeva as “a diva” who “needs to be humbled” in comments that were inadvertently livestreamed during a practice session before the tournament. Pegula later apologised to those involved.
“She’s fast, she has a great serve, she’s strong, she hits the ball pretty hard and she’s smart,” Pegula said of her upcoming opponent.
“I’m going to do my best.”
GAUFF RALLIES PAST KOSTYUK
Earlier, Gauff rallied from 1-5 down in the second set to beat Kostyuk 6-4 7-5 on Stadium Two.
The two-time Grand Slam champion sealed the opening set with a sharp volley before winning six consecutive games to complete the victory.
“I was fully prepared to play a third set there,” said Gauff, who received treatment for a back problem during the second set.
“It’s the last tournament of the season so I just wanted to finish it on a high note and give myself the best chance to play the semifinals. Either way, I didn’t want to be sad walking off the court.”
Kostyuk, who won the Madrid title and reached the French Open semi-finals, had already been eliminated after losing to both Noskova and Pegula.
The Ukrainian entered the eight-player tournament as an alternate following the withdrawal of world number one Elena Rybakina due to illness but finished without winning a set in three matches, having also struggled with a wrist injury.
