Jessica Pegula rallied in the all-American quarter-final clash with Claire Liu at the Hana Bank Korea Open in Seoul, winning the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
The World No. 4 has had a successful time on the Asian Swing. She reached the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo at the start of the month, defeating Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sakkari along the way before finishing as runner-up to Veronika Kudermetova.
Although she proceeded to exit the China Open in her second match following a straight-sets loss to Jelena Ostapenko, the American came back fighting this week at the WTA 250 tournament in South Korea. Ahead of this clash, she defeated Viktória Hrunčáková and Ashyln Krueger in straight sets.
It was a tough start for Pegula against Liu, as the World No. 98 amassed a 5-3 lead in the opening set. Although Liu was unable to serve out the set, she managed to secure it by breaking Pegula for 6-4.
However, the 29-year-old was not about to give up easily and came back full of determination in the second set. As a result, she broke Liu in her first service game for a 2-0 lead. After that, she fell into a good rhythm and successfully held the break to force a decider by securing the set 6-3.
In the final set, Pegula was brimming with confidence and took another early but crucial break to get ahead. She then went on to dominate the decider, building up a double break before ultimately closing out the final set with a bagel.
Pegula will now progress to the semi-final of the Korea Open, where she will face the winner of the match between Yanina Wickmayer and Polina Kudermetova, the latter of whom is the sister of World No. 16 Veronika who defeated Pegula in the final of the Pan Pacific Open.
Jessica Pegula d. Claire Liu 4-6 6-3 6-0 in Seoul To have the support of the Korean people this week must be a great feeling for Jess. Her mother Kim is Korean & she often says she’s one of her greatest inspirations. ✅9th SF of 2023 Another big week. 🇺🇸❤️
