Pegula vs. Starodubtseva: What to know about the Charleston final

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz' time in the South Carolina Lowcountry comes to end Saturday with the singles and doubles finals at the Charleston Open. 

Defending champion Jessica Pegula returned to the final and will face first time tour-level finalist Yuliia Starodubtseva, who upset Madison Keys in dominant fashion in Saturday's semifinals. In the doubles championship, American duo Desirae Krawczyk and Caty McNally play Anna Bondar and Magdalena Frech . 

From order of play to prize money and a championship preview, here is everything you need to know about Sunday's finals:

When are the Charleston Open singles and doubles finals?

Both finals will take place at Credit One Stadium in Charleston. Due to inclement weather, the finals have been moved up Sunday, April 5. The doubles final will be held at 11:00 a.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT), with the singles final to follow, not before 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT)

How did each singles player reach championship?

Singles

Pegula
First round: Bye
Second round: def. Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Third round: def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1)
Quarterfinals: def. Diana Shnaider 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Semifinals: def. Iva Jovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-3

Pegula has won all her matches in three-set thrillers, and has spent a total of 599 minutes on court for her singles matches, nearly 10 hours. 

Starodubtseva
First round: def. Shuai Zhang 6-3, 6-0
Second round: def. Ekaterine Gorgodze 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
Third round: def. Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-0
Quarterfinals: def. McCartney Kessler 6-4, 6-4
Semifinals: def. Madison Keys 6-1, 6-4

Starodubtseva was originally slated to play in qualifiers, but a withdrawal moved her into the main draw. It's been a week of firsts for the Ukrainan, as reaching the semifinals guaranteed her best career finish.

Doubles

Krawczyk-McNally
First round: def. Alexa Guarachi-Sofia Kenin 7-6 (3), 6-3
Quarterfinals: def. Shaui Zhang-Aleksandra Krunic 6-1, 7-5
Semifinals: def. Yulia Putintseva-Elisabetta Cocciaretto (walkover) 

Bondar-Frech
First round: def. Leylah Fernandez-Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (2), 2-6, [11-9]
Quarterfinals: def. Nicole Melichar-Martinez-Alexandra Panova 2-6, 7-5, [10-2]
Semifinals: def. Giuliana Olmos-Miyu Kato 6-1, 6-4

What are the ranking points and prize money at stake?

Charleston became the first standalone WTA 500 tournament to offer equal prize money that's in line with a standalone ATP 500 event, offering a total financial package of $2.5 million. Approximately, $2.3 million was made available in player prize money.

Sunday's singles champion receives $354,345 while the finalist takes home $218,225. For doubles, the champion duo earns $117,320 with the second-place team enjoying $71,300.  

Consistent with all WTA 5000 events, the singles and doubles champions at Charleston will receive 500 ranking points in the PIF WTA Rankings and Race to the WTA Finals Riyadh. The finalists in each draw add 325 points.

In the PIF WTA Rankings, any change in rank is based on how many points the player earned this time last year and had to defend entering the tournament. With a win, Pegula can defend all 500 points as a result of back to back titles. 

Pegula vs. Starodubtseva championship preview

It's been two opposite paths to the final for Pegula and Starodubtseva. For Pegula, she's played all three-set matches and she's been on court for nearly 10 hours. Pegula said it best herself, describing the run as a "cat with nine lives."

Still, it's not fortune as to why Pegula is in the final. She's been consistent as ever, reaching at least the quarterfinals in her past nine tour-level events. The American is into her second final of 2026, and she won her first final of the season back in Dubai. 

"I've seen her play maybe a few times, and I know her," Pegula said. "I've seen her around, but it seems like she likes the clay. Super crafty. She played pretty lights out today. I'm kind of taking a mental just couple hours before I have to tap into kind of maybe watching some of her matches and see what she's done really well and what she's been doing here too."

For Starodubtseva, the World No. 89 has played much higher than her ranking indicates, and she dominated 2019 Charleston champion and World No. 18 Keys in straight sets. She was strategic with her court positioning, often standing back, to handle Keys' power before striking with her own aggressive shot selection.

This will be their first meeting on the WTA Tour, and Starodubtseva could secure her first top five win of her career in addition to the Charleston championship.

"We've been talking about it for like a year that I thrive on big stages, and I might not perform on small stages sometimes, which I'm trying to fix," Starodubtseva said. "But hopefully I don't need to play so many small stages, I feel like I belong here, and I feel comfortable playing in a big crowd and feel the noise, I feel like kind of inspires me and gives me motivation to play."