Pegula records straight sets win over Paolini, punches ticket to WTA Semifinals

Jessica Pegula looked fully aware of the stakes Thursday at King Saud University Indoor Arena, where scenarios swirled over who would advance from the Stefanie Graf Group to the WTA Finals semifinals.

WTA Finals: Scores | Draws | Order of play

She moved efficiently through her final round-robin match, taking advantage of a struggling Jasmine Paolini, who appeared ill at times during the week and had already been eliminated from contention.

Pegula closed out a 6-2, 6-3 victory in just 63 minutes, sealing the match with one last break. Later, it was confirmed that the win secured Pegula the No. 2 spot in the group after Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff in straight sets to clinch the top position.

“I finally got straight sets win for the first time in a few months,” Pegula said after the match. “That always feels really good, but I thought I served really well and just played solid today. I was aggressive when I needed to be. There wasn’t much negative today.”

It marked her first straight sets win since defeating Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round in Beijing in late September, ending a streak of eight consecutive victories coming in three sets.

After defeating Gauff in three sets to open group play and losing a tight three-setter to Sabalenka, it never appeared as if three sets were going to be required against Paolini.

Pegula converted her first break of serve to go ahead 2-1 in the opening set and raced to a 5-1 lead. After Paolini held to narrow the gap, Pegula clinched the set in the following game in less than half an hour.

The second set followed a similar script. Pegula broke for a 2-1 lead and later, leading 5-3, added another break in the final game to close out the match. The late break slightly boosted her percentage of games won, a detail that would have mattered in the potential tiebreaker.

Her dominance showed on the stat sheet, especially in the serving department. Pegula wasn’t broken, faced just one break point late in the first set and lost only eight points on return the entire match. She outpaced Paolini in first serves won (83% to 56%), second serves won (75% to 45%), and aces (2-0).

The victory was Pegula’s 53rd of the season, fourth most behind Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

She’s the first American to reach that mark in a season after turning 30 since Serena Williams won 53 matches in 2015.