Top seed Jessica Pegula to face unseeded Sofia Kenin in Charleston final

Sofia Kenin, Jessica Pegula (photos by Daniel Ward)

 

 

 

 

Today was a windy day on Daniel Island, and Jessica Pegula and Ekaterina Alexandrova, had to make constant adjustments in order to compete effectively in their semifinal. Alexandrova is not an easy opponent for Pegula, who said, after the match: "It's been the same kind of story line in the past when I played her; played good first set, she comes back in the second, and then usually I tend to lose the third. So glad I was able to flip that script today."

Pegula had more nice things to say about her opponent: "She's really good. She's a really good player. I mean, there's a reason she beats a lot of players. She can play at a really high level. Her game is tough to play against, the way she strikes the ball, when she serving well, returning well."

Each player dominated for a set, and the third set was all that spectators could have hoped for. The match, which featured thirteen breaks of serve, lasted two hour and twenty minutes, and, in the end, it was Pegula--known for her consistency--who was the more consistent, defeating Alexandrova 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. 

Ekaterina Alexandrova (photo by Daniel Ward)

This was Pegula's third consecutive Charleston semifinal. In 2023, she lost to eventual runner-up Belinda Bencic (who was also the defending champion), and last year, she lost to Daria Kasatkina, who was also the eventual runner-up.

The other semifinal was, unfortunately, a different story. I was expecting quite a battle between Sofia Kenin and Amanda Anisimova, but after the third game of the first set, Anisimova sustained a right hip injury and had to get treatment. With Kenin leading 5-2 in that set, Anisimova had to retire. 

Sofia Kenin and Amanda Anisimova (photo b Daniel Ward)

The last time that Kenin, who is unseeded, was in a clay court final was in 2020, but it was a big one--the French Open. Kenin won the Australian Open that year, and then had an excellent run in Paris, defeating both Danielle Collins and Petra Kvitova. She fell, however, to Iga Swiatek in the final. Since that time, she has not had the same success on the tour; however, this week in Charleston, Kenin has been playing superb tennis, taking out a resurgent Belinda Bencic, 5th seed Daria Kasatkina, and Anna Kalinskaya. 

Pegula is 3-2 against Kenin. One of Kenin's victories took place in the third round of the 2021 French Open, when Kenin was the defending champion.

Tomorrow will mark the first time in 35 years that two women from the USA meet in the Charleston final; in 1990, Martina Navratilova defeated Jennifer Capriati.

We also have doubles finalists. Top seeds Aļona Ostapenko and Erin Routliffe will face off against 3rd seeds Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk.

Paths to the final:

JESSICA PEGULA (1)
round 1--bye
round 2--def. Irina Shymanovich
round 3--def. Ajla Tomljanovic
quarterfinals--def. Danielle Collins (7)
semifinals--def. Ekaterina Alexandrova (9)

SOFIA KENIN 
round 1--def. Bernada Pera
round 2--def. Belinda Bencic (17)
round 3--def. Daria Kasatkina (5)
quarterfinals--def. Anna Kalinskaya (24)
semifinals--def. Amanda Anisimova (8) (ret.)