Jessica Pegula continues strong form, defeats Elise Mertens to reach Australian Open third round

Jessica Pegula showed her class against Elise Mertens, securing a comfortable win of 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Australian Open. The World No. 6 continues to be in excellent form, extending her 2025 record to 6-1 and advancing to the Round of 32 in the first Grand Slam of the year, surpassing her performance in the previous edition.

The American No. 2 continues to impress, completing a difficult challenge against the Belgian, a player accustomed to being seeded at Grand Slams for the past five years. However, it wasn’t much of a problem for Pegula. In the third round, she will face talented Serbian Olga Danilovic (No. 55), who stunned 25th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round with an incredible 6-1, 6-2 scoreline.

Pegula stays in top form, breezes past Mertens

In the first round, Pegula had comfortably defeated Maya Joint 6-3, 6-0, but that wasn’t much of a measure of her form in Melbourne, considering Joint was playing her second-ever main draw of a Grand Slam at just 18 years old.

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This time, Pegula was up against an experienced player like Mertens, a former World No. 13. The American maintained an impressive first-set serving performance, winning 72% of points on her first serve and 71% on her second. Breaks came consecutively in the 5th and 6th games, keeping the score level, but Pegula took advantage with a second consecutive break. After taking the lead, Pegula held her serve and clinched the first set 6-4 after 36 minutes.

In the second set, it was clear Pegula was taking charge and Mertens was losing her effectiveness on first serve, dropping from 73% to just 46%. The World No. 6 took the initiative and secured an early break in the third game. From there, the dominance was all on the American’s side, who got another break and was up 5-2 with her serve.

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In the closing game, Mertens appeared to have a second wind, saving two match points and creating a few break opportunities. However, Pegula finished off Mertens' hopes with powerful first serves and closed the match 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour and 12 minutes. With this, the American became the first top-10 player to reach the third round.

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