Jessica Pegula stretched her winning streak to eight matches and clinched a spot in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Maria Sakkari on Thursday night in Mexico.
A year after going 0-3 in the round-robin singles play at the event, Pegula went 3-0 in Cancun, including a win over No 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka. Pegula, the fifth seed in the tournament, has not yet lost a set.
The late match between Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina is to be finished on Friday morning after rain delayed it numerous times. In a rematch of the Australian Open final won by Sabalenka, the top-ranked player led Rybakina 6-2 3-5 when play was suspended.
Aryna Sabalenka’s match with Elena Rybakina will resume on Friday
The winner will join Pegula in the semi-finals, qualifying out of the Bacalar Group. Sabalenka will retain her No 1 ranking if she goes undefeated in round-robin play or makes the final.
Also on Friday, Iga Swiatek faces Ons Jabeur, while Coco Gauff plays Marketa Vondrousova to determine who will progress from the Chetumal Group.
Iga Swiatek is back in action on Friday and hoping to book a semi-final spot
Swiatek is within touching distance of the last four after winning both of her matches – but all four players could still qualify.
Against Sakkari, Pegula dominated second serves, winning on 11 of 19 second serves and 19 of 30 second-serve returns (Sakkari won just eight of 19).
Pegula also made about half as many unforced errors – 18 to Sakkari’s 35 – on a windy evening that featured some rain early and a lot late.
The 29-year-old will play in the semi-finals on Saturday.
“Getting through 3-0 is really kind of a cool accomplishment, especially coming off of last year, where it was the opposite,” said Pegula.
Sakkari was already eliminated before playing Pegula; she lost all three matches, not winning a set.
“That’s not the way I wanted my season to end,” Sakkari said. “I think that physically and mentally, I was paying a toll for how much I travelled and how much I played and how emotional this season was.”
