Jessica Pegula comfortably beats Haddad Maia to advance in Doha

A superb matchup unfolded in Doha today as Pegula took on Haddad Maia and she won the match far easier than many expected losing only a handful of games.

Pegula was the favourite in this matchup before they took the court but very few expected her to do so well against the Brazilian. Haddad Maia is a super solid player that generally gives you a good effort so it's really hard to blow her off the court. Pegula managed to do that fairly comfortably despite the Brazilian playing really well at the moment.

The first set went 6-3 to Pegula as she won the ball-striking battle. They traded blows from the start of the match but Pegula did a bit better in that regard. It's her style of play and she doesn't mind it one bit which was evident here. Haddad Maia could not keep up and she didn't really serve all that well so it gave Pegula plenty of chances to win points.

The second set was played fairly similarly but this time around Pegula was even more precise in her game. She didn't allow a single break point and lost very few points on her serve. Haddad Maia continued to struggle with her serve and she couldn't keep up with Pegula. The American finished it off 6-2.