Jessica Pegula upset world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 to win her second group match at the WTA Finals in Cancun. She then advanced to the semi-finals after Elena Rybakina defeated Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2).
Pegula, who entered the match with a dismal 1-4 record against the hard-hitting Sabalenka, managed to absorb her powerful serve to extend the rallies and thwart the Belarusian’s comeback attempts.
Sabalenka, who has said she did not feel safe at the newly built Estadio Paradisus, never looked completely comfortable against Pegula and made 29 unforced errors.
The top seed looked ready to fight back in the first set when, trailing 5-2, she smashed a thunderous forehand winner to break Pegula and backed that up with a service hold to pull within a game of the American.
But Pegula kept his cool and won the first set after a thrilling rally ended with a backhand into the net from Sabalenka. Pegula raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set, but Sabalenka rallied again and broke serve to cut the lead to 5-3.
It took five match points in a marathon final match before Pegula finally delivered the knockout punch, which came when Sabalenka shook a backhand to give Pegula her fifth straight victory over a top 10 opponent.
Pegula pushed back on the idea that her game lacks strength compared to Sabalenka and others. “I hit hard,” she told Tennis Channel. “People don’t seem to think I hit hard, like commentators do. Seriously, I don’t know why they say that. Maybe because it seems like I’m not? I hit flatter, I don’t hit as hard as maybe Aryna, but I hit hard.
Pegula’s victory secured a place in the semi-finals, while fourth seed Rybakina shook off a late comeback attempt from Sakkari for her first victory in the competition.
Rybakina defeated her Greek opponent 6-0 in the first set, but Sakkari fought back to take the subsequent sets into tie-breaks despite Rybakina’s impressive start in the third set, in which she led 4-2.
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Sakkari broke Rybakina’s serve for the first time to level the set at 6-6, but the latter remained calm to take the tiebreak and win a hard-fought match that lasted two hours and 26 minutes.
“For Maria, I felt in the beginning that it might take some time to get used to my speed,” Rybakina said of the one-sided first set. “As we all know, the surface area is not the largest. We are having a hard time, all of us.”
The Kazakhstani world number four will face Sabalenka on Thursday in a battle for a place in the semi-finals, while Pegula will face Sakkari in the final group stage.