Jessica Pegula advances to Guadalajara final over Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka played really well in Guadalajara but she proved no match for Jessica Pegula who cruised 7-6(3) 6-1.

The American player has been the 3rd best player in the world and she's proving it again this week. Battling through a strong group of players, Pegula will play in the final after beating Azarenka as well. It was a complicated first set for her but she was able to keep battling when things didn't go her way.

It opened with a 3-0 lead for Azarenka who was far more precise than Pegula who is quite streaky. The American needed time to get into a good rhythm and eventually she was able to battle back. Rallies mostly followed a similar pattern with Pegula being the one that decides them.

Counter-punching works as long as the player can't keep up the elite ball striking for a long period of time. Unfortunately for Azarenka, Pegula was striking the ball better and better. The tie-break was a rather close one early but won by Pegula 7-3 later on.

The final set was anything but complicated as the American smashed Azarenka 6-1 to move on to another WTA 1000 final.