CHARLESTON, S.C. -- After Jessica Pegula’s harrowing opening match that ran nearly two-and-a-half hours, she had a far easier time in defeating Magda Linette 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday.
She, the top seed, advances to the quarterfinals at the Credit One Charleston Open, and Friday will play No.12 seed Victoria Azarenka, who knocked off Taylor Townsend. It was a sharp contrast to Pegula’s gritty come-from-behind win over Amanda Anisimova that was decided by a third-set tiebreak.
“The scoreline was straightforward, but I don’t think she was playing her best tennis,” Pegula said afterward in a Tennis Channel interview. “But I served really smart and I was playing really well in these conditions, which were tricky.
“Luckily I was able to play the controlled, aggressive mentality in the wind and was able to pressure her. I think for her to try and be more aggressive in these conditions is tough. So I think I drew some errors there.”
Pegula has now beaten Linette the two times they’ve met. The last Pegula loss to a player with a lower ranking than Linette was a year ago in Rome 2023 -- and that was to No.168 Townsend.
Linette had previously beaten Petra Martic and Dayana Yastremska, the latter after dropping the first set 6-0. Linette is now 2-7 for her career against top seeds.
Pegula, 30, looked sharp throughout. She won 31 of 39 service points and did not face a break point.
"It’s definitely something I’ve been working on,” Pegula said. “Today, it didn’t matter how it felt -- it was just serve smart. I tried to throw in a lot more slice serves, not go for as many bigger serves. It’s all about placements in these conditions. When the wind is blowing your toss everywhere, you feel really uncomfortable. I did a a good job of getting a high percentage of first serves in.”
Pegula broke Linette in back-to-back service games and emerged with the first set in only 25 minutes. She broke again in Linette’s first two service games of the second set and took a commanding 4-0 lead.
This is the sixth appearance in Charleston for Pegula, and with one more win, she’ll equal her best effort here. Last year, she reached the semifinals for the first time, losing to Belinda Bencic. Pegula has proven proficient on clay; two years ago, she was the runner-up in the WTA Tour 1000 Madrid event.
Pegula is going against what’s developed into an historic trend in Charleston. The last time the top seed won the tournament was 2013 (Serena Williams). In the past 22 editions, the top seed has prevailed only twice.
