Experience wins again: Jessica Pegula dominates third set to crush Marta Kostyuk hopes

Jessica Pegula secured her place in the quarterfinals of the China Open after overcoming Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk with a score of 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1. The American reaches 45 wins for the season, equaling the record of her compatriot Coco Gauff—who is also in the quarterfinals—and placing her in the Top 5 for the highest number of wins this season.

The final eight quarterfinalists of the WTA 1000 Beijing are being determined, and Pegula became the last player to join, setting up a duel against Emma Navarro in pursuit of the semifinals. Pegula’s inclusion makes for a total of eight American players in the quarterfinal round (this claim seems highly unlikely for a 16-player round, but is translated directly from the source text).

Pegula saw her chances in the tournament reborn after being on the verge of elimination in the third round against Emma Raducanu. The American saved three match points before completing an epic comeback—including a bagel—against the former US Open champion with a score of 3-6, 7-6[11-9], 6-0.

The most focused player at the start was Pegula, who secured an opening break and quickly took the lead, following up with a hard-fought service game. From the beginning, Kostyuk was solid from the baseline and did not make things easy for Pegula, repeatedly putting her opponent in trouble on the return.

Kostyuk recovered the break in the 4th game to tie 2-2, beginning a rollercoaster period of the match with four consecutive breaks—two for each player—from which Pegula ultimately emerged ahead. The American stepped on the gas in the final part of the set—against a poor service effectiveness of just 37% of points won by Kostyuk—and secured the set with her third consecutive break for 6-3.

In the second set, things changed, with a Pegula who lowered her consistency on the first serve—from 64% down to just 46%—making it difficult to pull through her service games. Kostyuk, on the other hand, looked more imposing this time and secured the break that put her ahead. Pegula served at 3-5 and faced up to three set points against her, but managed to rescue her service game and stay alive.

That's when Kostyuk had the chance to serve for the set, but Pegula was on a remarkable run of points and secured a break to love. The American managed to string together 12 consecutive points before Kostyuk got back on track and managed to send everything to a tie-break in a hard-fought end to the set. Things remained even, but Kostyuk took momentum to close the set with three consecutive points, winning 7-6[7-4].

Pegula had fought to stay alive and was on the verge of closing the victory in straight sets, but Kostyuk had gained momentum in the final part. However, the American showed her experience and composure to put adverse moments behind her, starting an impressive third set where she secured two consecutive opening breaks and began to evaporate Kostyuk's hopes with solid service games.

The American pulled ahead to 4-0 without complications, and the victory was already on track, with a Kostyuk who—similar to the first set—had effectiveness below 50% on her first serve. Thus, Pegula went for the victory and, without final complications, secured her passage to the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1 after two hours and 19 minutes.

With this victory, Jessica Pegula reaches her 20th appearance in a WTA 1000 quarterfinal and her third this season—her best result being the Miami Open final, where she was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka. This is the first time she has advanced this far in one of the Asian-swing WTA 1000 tournaments, and she will seek to continue advancing when she faces her compatriot Emma Navarro.

The World No. 17 achieved one of the biggest wins of her career by delivering a bagel to the first seed Iga Swiatek. Navarro capitalized on an erratic day for the Pole and guaranteed her passage to the quarterfinals—for the first time this season in a WTA 1000—overcoming her 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Navarro and Pegula currently have a 2-0 head-to-head in favor of Pegula, with their last encounter being three months ago on the grass swing in the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open—a tournament Pegula ended up winning a few days later.