Defending Charleston Champion Pegula Survives Marathon Opener

By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Photo credit: Charleston Tennis LLC

“Welcome to clay season.”

That’s what defending Credit One Charleston Open Jessica Pegula said in her post-match interview about what was going through her mind after her opening round win that took her almost to the brink of an early exit.

The World No. 5 Pegula endured a hard-fought victory after over three hours against Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the third round.

“The last person I want to play on clay right now,” Pegula said when interviewed on the Tennis Channel desk about Putintseva just after her win.

The 3-hour, 10-minute match, the longest of Pegula’s career, was an extreme battle as each player tried to outwit and outlast the other.

“She’s a nightmare,” Pegula said after the match. “If there’s one person in the draw I would really not want to play first match on clay, she would be number one. She’s really tricky. I hadn’t played her on clay before, so I knew it was going to be harder. I knew I was going to have to do some stuff that was different than maybe on a faster hard court. She was making me earn it.”

Despite Pegula having never lost a set to her opponent prior to Wednesday’s clash, Putintseva won the first set in their fourth career meeting.

While Pegula found a way to win the second set, the third set remained up for grabs. Especially after Putintseva almost grabbed an early 3-0 lead.

Pegula fought back, roared on by the crowd, to eventually secure a 5-3 lead. Pegula though, was unable to serve out the match later while up 5-4.

With tension mounting on both sides, Pegula secured another break when she forced a Putintseva error.

From there, Pegula eventually managed to serve out the grueling three-set win to the delight of the crowd.

Next up for Pegula is No. 14-seeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy in the round of 16.

Catch up with all the live scores from Charleston and around the Tours on Wednesday here.