Top-seeded Jessica Pegula continued her pattern of slow starts and strong finishes at the Charleston Open, overcoming a first-set loss to defeat Russia’s Diana Shnaider 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in Friday’s quarterfinal action.
The defending Charleston champion made things even more challenging for herself by falling behind 2-0 in the deciding set before winning six consecutive games to seal her victory. Pegula’s serving proved to be the deciding factor, as she recorded eight aces without a single double fault, while Shnaider managed only one ace against six double faults. This marked Pegula’s third consecutive comeback victory this week, with her tournament matches totaling more than seven hours of court time.
Pegula will now face fellow American and fourth-seeded Iva Jovic in the semifinals. The 18-year-old Jovic advanced with a straight-set victory over eighth-seeded Anna Kalinskaya, winning 6-3, 6-4 in just 81 minutes. This represents Jovic’s third tour-level semifinal appearance since September.
The tournament’s other semifinal will feature American fifth seed Madison Keys against Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva. Keys mounted her own comeback to eliminate third-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, while the unseeded Starodubtseva prevented an all-American semifinal lineup by defeating McCartney Kessler 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first tour-level semifinal.
Meanwhile, at the Copa Colsanitas tournament in Bogota, Colombia, the remaining seeded players advanced smoothly after Thursday’s upsets that eliminated the second and third seeds.
Top-seeded Czech player Marie Bouzkova defeated Latvia’s Darja Semenistaja 6-1, 7-5 and will meet qualifier Jazmin Ortenzi in the semifinals. Ortenzi, playing in just her second WTA main draw, rallied past fellow Argentine Julia Riera 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first WTA semifinal.
Eighth-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary defeated Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa 7-6 (2), 6-1 and will face local favorite Emiliana Arango, who eliminated Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-3.
