American Jessica Pegula Rallies to beat the defending champion Danielle Collins of the United States in the quarter-final of the WTA tournament in Charleston, in South Carolina (Matthew Stockman)
The world number four Jessica Pegula rallied from a set and a breakdown to beat the defending champion Danielle Collins 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 Friday and reach the semi-finals of the Clay Court tournament from He WTA in Charleston, in South Carolina.
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“It was difficult,” said Pegula, who dragged 6-1, 2-0 but won 10 of the last 13 games-including the last nine to close the competition.
“Obviously, she can play well here,” said Pegula. “She defends the champion and she came out in dismissal. I was not at all ready for that.
“Fortunately, I am able to dig my heels in this second set and play good tennis.”
Pegula said the key to turning things was mixing his shots and a “smart portion”.
“She came back incredible, just striking the winner, the winner, the winner of my service and I had to find a way to improve my placement a little,” said Pegula.
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Pegula, the seeded, reserved a meeting in the semi-finals with the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat the gold medalist of the Paris Zheng Qinwen Olympic Games of China 6-1, 6-4.
Alexandrova reached his third semi-final of the season with his third victory in three games with Zheng, the third seeded.
Alexandrova saved the three break points that she faced and converted three of her five breaking points against the Chinese star, who hit only eight winners and followed her treatment on the right arm during the first set.
The American Sofia Kenin, champion of the Australian Open 2020, also reached the semi-finals, beating Russian Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 6-3.
Kenin, who is in the semi-finals for the first time from Tokyo last year, will then face Emma Navarro or Amanda Anisimova, who met on Friday later in a quarter-final.
BB / Sept
