Jessica Pegula and Anna Kalinskaya have met five times at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level, and all five matches have gone the distance. After both players came from a set down in their second-round wins Thursday at the Mubadala DC Open, they’ll have a chance to make it six-for-six when they meet again Friday.
Washington: Scores | Order of play | Draws
Despite holding a 4-1 edge in the head-to-head, Pegula sounded less than eager regarding to renew their rivalry during her on-court interview after a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Magdalena Frech.
“I saw her score before I came out here, and I’m like, sorry Anna, but I was kind of hoping I wasn’t going to have to face you because we literally always play three sets,” Pegula said. “We always have crazy matches. We had a really tough match here in the semis when I won my first title, and we’ve played so many times that we just laugh. We’re like, oh, here we go again.”
She then turned to the crowd.
“So you’re in for a treat, I guess, is what I’m trying to say.”
Kalinskaya’s scoreline went 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7), as the No. 5 seed came from a set down and saved two match points to escape Janice Tjen and reach her fourth quarterfinal in four trips to Washington.
Kalinskaya saves two match points to beat Tjen, returns to DC quarters
Pegula starts slow, then rolls behind parade of winners
In her first match of this Hard-Court Swing, the American No. 1 didn’t get off to the most picturesque start in the US capital. She was looser with the racket than usual, committing 14 unforced errors and landing just 36% of her first serves.
“My first-serve percentage was 36%. For those of you that maybe are not tennis people, that is not good,” Pegula said. “I’m probably not going to win the match if that continues. So to be honest, I was really just focusing on that and trying to go after it. It’s hard the first week with the new balls — they’re pretty light.
“When you feel good, you can serve really well, which I did at the end. But if you’re a little hesitant, they can kind of fly, you get a couple double faults, and it gets weird.”
As she hoped, the World No. 3 made the necessary adjustments and looked more herself over the final two sets, taking 12 of the last 15 games and blanking Frech in the decider. She hit 15 winners in the final set against just three unforced errors and ultimately finished with 42 winners on the day. Her first-serve percentage climbed to a much healthier 55% by day’s end.
Kalinskaya continues her winning ways in Washington
Kalinskaya keeps doing what she seems to do best in Washington — win, win, win, no matter what — as she improved to a robust 13-3 in four appearances at the event. She reached the final last year before finishing runner-up to Leylah Fernandez.
She kept her hopes alive for back-to-back finals — and a first WTA singles title — with a narrow win over Tjen that twice saw her a point away from a premature exit as she worked to claw her way back after a shaky opening set. The 27-year-old refused to fade, turning the match around with timely shotmaking.
Her reward is a rematch of the 2019 semifinal, when Pegula won 6-1 in the decider en route to her first career title. Kalinskaya will look to flip that result Friday, with a second win over the American potentially propelling her toward a breakthrough of her own.
