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| Jessica Pegula (photo by Daniel Ward) |
Yesterday, in press, someone reminded top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula that she has had a series of "crazy type of matches" in Charleston over the last few years. Pegula said that--at one point yesterday, during her match against Yulia Putintseva--she thought of that: "...all these matches started going through my head, and I was just like, 'why, why, why?' I don't know what it is."
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| photo by Daniel Ward |
Whatever it is, it struck again today when Pegula played 14th seed Elisabetta Cocciarietto in the third round. The Italian player, whom Pegula described as having a "very sneaky" serve, was successfully going for all the angles in the first set. She quickly went up 3-0, then won the set 6-1. In the second set, Pegula easily dominated, though the rallies remained long and tough; she took that set 6-1. But then, in the third set, Pegula found herself down 1-4. But, as she said to the media after the match, she felt like, at times, she "wasn't thinking out there, for whatever reason. And I just had to kind of dial in to, like, finding that temperament, finding that problem-solving state of mind."
At 4-5 in the third, Pegula was two points from losing the match. At 5-6 down, she delivered eleven of the last twelves points of the match, which she won, 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(1). The world number 5 is now 8-1 in three-set matches in 2026.
| Belinda Bencic (photo by Daniel Ward) |
Pegula wasn't the only top player who had to deal with a very tough opponent. 2022 champion and 3rd seed Belinda Bencic played lefty Czech Sara Bejlek, and the Swiss star said that it took her a while to get used to opponent's style of play. "...I was just about trying to kind of stay there, you know, tried to fight for every point, kind of accepting that it's not going to be the prettiest of my matches."
When asked about mental adjustments that she had to make during the match, Bencic replied that "Sometimes you're almost embarrassed about your mistakes, and ashamed. You're just like, oh, my God, what are people thinking right now? And then you're like, no, you can't think like this. You just go every point. You just try to fight, and yeah, just stay resilient and don't try to play too pretty, just really try to win the match, and that's all that counts."
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| Madison Keys (photo by Daniel Ward) |
2029 champion and 5th seed Madison Keys was also victorious today, defeating Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5. And 7th seed Diana Shnaider celebrated both her birthday and a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Leylah Fernandez (both lefties). Yuliia Starodubtseva defeated Renata Zarazua 6-1, 6-0, and in an all-USA clash, McCartney Kessler upset 17th seed Peyton Stearns, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
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| Iva Jovic (photo by Daniel Ward) |
In the first evening match, 4th seed Iva Jovic, who is making her Charleston debut, defeated 2025 finalist Sofia Kenin 7-5, 7-5. It took three match points and over two hours for Jovic to claim victory. Down 4-5 in the second set, Kenin saved two match points. Jovic took a 6-5 lead, then Kenin--who was in obvious pain--took a medical timeout because of her shoulder. When she returned to the court, she was broken for the fifth time, and Jovic claimed victory.
In the second night match, 8th seed Anna Kalinskaya defeated wild card Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2. Badosa has performed very well at this event, but tonight, she was up against a very in-form Kalinskaya. The 8th seed won with almost 78% of her first serves, and 70% of her second serves. She hit 22 winners, and was broken only once.
In doubles, top seeds Aleksandra Krunic and Zhang Shuai were upset in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 7-5, by Desirae Krawczyk and Caty McNally.
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| Sara Bejlek (photo by Daniel Ward) |
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| Elisabetta Cocciaretto (photo by Daniel Ward) |
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