Advertisement

Pegula ousts top seed Gauff to reach Berlin final

tennis23 June 2024 11:20| © AFP
Share
article image
Coco Gauff @ Getty Images

Jessica Pegula returned to court to oust top seed and doubles partner Coco Gauff 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) to reach the final of the Berlin WTA tournament on Sunday.

The semifinal had been suspended overnight with fourth seed Pegula leading fellow American Gauff 7-5, 6-6 (3/1).

On Sunday's resumption, Pegula won four of five points to advance to her first grass-court final.

Pegula next plays Russian Anna Kalinskaya who beat Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1 in a see-saw semifinal Saturday.

Kalinskaya lost to Pegula in their only previous meeting in the Washington semifinals in 2019, with the American advancing to win her first title that week.

On Saturday, three quarterfinals were delayed by rain from the day before, two were cut short as Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur joined the procession of injured stars limping off the grass in the Wimbledon warm-up event.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova retired with a right hip injury during the week with former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina also withdrawing.

Advertisement