By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 11, 2023
Jessica Pegula won the final three games edging partner Coco Gauff 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 to advance to her third straight National Bank Open semifinal in Montreal.
Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open Facebook
A dramatic duel between the top two Americans escalated deep into the third set.
Doubles partners Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff pushed each other all over the court amping up the shotmaking stakes.
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In the end, Gauff blinked twice and Pegula sustained her semifinal streak.
A fierce Pegula won the final three games edging Gauff 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, and advancing to the National Bank Open semifinals in Montreal for the third consecutive year.
Playing cleaner tennis on pivotal points, Pegula fought off five of eight break points in a physical two hour, 21-minute triumph.always a tough match.
"We know each other's games so well, so we kind of know what we're going to do to each other, know what our goal is," Pegula said. "It's just kind of trying to execute it at the right times and as best as possible.
"So I think I was just able to do it a little bit better today."
World No. 3 Pegula's toughness under stress, combined with Gauff mis-firing at critical stages, was key. Pegula got an assist from her partner: Gauff committed four of her nine double faults in the decisive set, including twice double-faulting away breaks. Gauff double faults gave Pegula leads at 2-1 and at 6-5 in the decider.
Pegula rolled through her first love hold of the set to secure her semifinal spot and improve to 38-13 on the season.
"I think I started off a little bit slow, but I was able to turn it around a little bit for the second set," Gauff said. "Then in the third I think I could have served a little bit better, been more aggressive in certain moments and less unforced errors, but Jess is not an easy player.
"If you don't hit a great shot, she's going to punish you for it. Also, you know, she's not easy to give you free balls or free points as well."
The fourth-seeded Pegula played streak snapper stopping Gauff's six-match winning streak and ending her own four-match losing streak to Top 10 opponents with her first Top 10 win since she beat Maria Sakkari in the Doha semifinals last February.
Iga Swiatek pounded Pegula 6-3, 6-0, in the Doha final and the pair could meet again in tomorrow's Montreal semifinals if the world No. 1 Swiatek defeats resurgent Danielle Collins in tonight's quarterfinal.
Since 2021, Pegula has reached eight WTA 1000 semifinals, matching Swiatek for most on Tour during the past two years.
Respect for her doubles partner's returns, compelled Gauff to go for too much on second serve.
The Washington, DC champion spit up three double faults in a tense 10-minute opening game as Pegula broke on an error.
Fending off a pair of break points, Pegula provoked forehand errors confirming the break for 2-0.
Hugging the baseline, Pegula was taking the ball earlier and hitting with more precision. Gauff scattered a forehand then slapped a forehand down the line into net as Pegula pulled ahead with the double break.
A sharp Pegula spun an ace out wide holding at 15 for a 5-1 lead a half-hour into the match.
"Watching her play the last couple of weeks I feel like she's been coming out really, really fast and getting really good leads and being able to play freely," Pegula said. "So obviously it doesn't always go to plan, but I wanted to stay as tough as possible at the beginning of the first set just to not—obviously no one ever wants to go—of course, I would love to be at 4-0 every match that I start, but I just didn't want her to be able to free up and start serving really well and ripping and playing super aggressive.
"So it worked out kind of perfectly today. I can't say that's always the case. But yeah, I wanted to be very tough the first few games and, yeah, just keep that pressure on really early."
Jamming her partner with a slider into the hip brought Pegula triple set point. Pegula pounded down a serve winner sealing a strong 36-minute opener that saw her win eight of the last nine points played on her serve.
The 19-year-old Gauff seemed to be finding her range on serve only to squander a 40-love lead in the fifth game of set two.
Pausing before serving, Gauff slid an ace out wide. Gauff slammed down her fifth ace edging ahead 3-2.
Sixty-nine minutes into the match, the pair collaborated on a dazzling all-court point ending with Gauff soaring high to snap off a smash in an explosive opening to the seventh game.
Striking with more conviction, Gauff was backing Pegula up as she won 11 of 16 points earning triple break point in the eighth game. When Pegula scattered a wild forehand, Gauff gained her first break of the day for 5-3.
All that good work Gauff did disippitated as she clanked successive forehand errors to give back the break, bouncing her Head racquet off the hard court in disgust at the self-sabotage.
Channeling her inner Carlos Alcaraz, Gauff pulled off a slick forehand drop shot and bumped a backhand volley winner for set point. An over-eager Gauff sent a backhand into net giving Pegula a reprieve as she hung tough to even after 10 games.
From love-30 down, Gauff ran off four points in a row for 6-5.
An energized Gauff was driving the ball deeper and Pegula couldn't keep it in play. Gauff exploited a double fault and drew a pair of errors breaking to force a third set after 94 minutes.
Doubles skills came into play when Pegula won a rapid-fire net exchange poking a backhand volley for break point. Gauff committed her eighth double fault handing her friend the break and a 2-1 lead in the decider.
Throughout her winning run, Washington, DC champion Gauff has applied her all-court skills sometimes rushing opponents into errors. Gauff attacked in the eighth game rattling out some running errors from Pegula to break back and even the decider, 4-all.
Playing with more margin on her shots, Gauff held at 15—her third game in a row—snatching a 5-4 lead and ratcheting up the pressure on Pegula.
The American No. 1 did not blink.
Pegula hit a series of low returns earning double break point in the 11th game. When Gauff clanked her ninth double fault off the tape, Pegula had the key break and a 6-5 lead. ,
Persistently probing her partner's forehand wing, Pegula drew the netted forehand for triple match point. Pegula served out a gritty win at love avenging her Eastbourne loss to Gauff in June to take a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head.
The pair shared a nice embrace at net and will reunite later today as the top-seeded doubles team in the quarterfinals.