Pegula secures spot in Cancun final with decisive win against Gauff
CANCUN, Mexico -- Jessica Pegula
The No.5 seeded American is scheduled to play Sunday against the winner of the highly anticipated second evening semifinal between No.1 Aryna Sabalenka
For the first time since 2012, the Top 3 ranked players in the world advanced to the semifinal stage of the WTA Finals. There have been 25 different singles winners, with a 26th to be crowned here at the end.
“I managed to get my act together at the end of the year,” Pegula told reporters afterward. “I’ve done a good job of resetting coming here. It’s not fun leaving [Fort Worth] 0-6. I’m glad I’ve turned the tables. I found a way to make it work. I’m feeling confident going into the finals.”
WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Pegula, after losing all three of her matches at last year’s WTA Finals in Fort Worth, is now a pristine 4-0 in Estadio Paradisus. For the record, she has beaten No.1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka
Is the undefeated Pegula the favorite?
“No,” she said, “I don’t think I consider myself the favorite, considering the two girls [Sabalenka and Swiatek] are ranked ahead of me. I’ll probably be considered the underdog, even though I’m playing great tennis."
Gauff, also 0-3 in Fort Worth, finished here 2-2. She has now lost three of four career matches to Pegula.
“She was playing well with the wind -- and I wasn’t,” Gauff told reporters. “I mean we both had the same circumstances. She just handled them better than I did.”
At 29, Pegula is a decade older than Gauff -- and her experience showed in extremely windy conditions. During a rain break in the second set, the umbrella being held over Gauff’s changeover chair was blown inside out. She was often tentative and seemed conflicted about whether to maintain a safe margin with her shots -- or go for winners.
The two players each broke each other early, but with the score 2-all, Pegula went to work. She broke Gauff for the second time when a netcord ball fell back. Pegula held and broke a second straight time when a Gauff forehand service return soared long.
Pegula broke Gauff for the fourth time to open the second set and again in the fifth game. Rain interrupted play again with Pegula leading 4-1 and she finished with a flourish, breaking Gauff one more time.
“It’s probably my biggest final ever,” Pegula said. “It’s going to give me a lot of confidence going into next year.”
Notable stats: Gauff was broken six times and lost 29 of her 49 service points. She finished with only six winners and 25 unforced errors. Pegula was a tidier nine and 11.
Gauff was bidding to become the first teenager to reach the final at WTA Finals since Martina Hingis did it in 1999. The last teenager to win the title at the WTA finals was Maria Sharapova in 2004.
Pegula is the first player since Elina Svitolina
What’s next: In addition to Sunday’s final, Pegula will have to navigate her way through a complicated doubles situation. Initially, she and Gauff were scheduled to play three potential matches. Their round-robin match against Laura Siegemund
With the two singles matches the priority, doubles was deferred. If Gauff and Pegula, the top seeds, win that suspended match in straight sets -- or in three, so long as they win three games in the second set -- they would be in line to play the team of Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens
