Jessica Pegula is one match away from capturing her second Berlin Tennis Open championship in three years after knocking off the world’s top-ranked player, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0 in Saturday’s semifinal.
The third-seeded American was relentless against Sabalenka’s second serves, converting 24 of 39 second-service return opportunities — a success rate of 61.5 percent. Pegula broke through five times on 16 break-point chances while holding off six of Sabalenka’s seven attempts to break her serve.
Pegula will square off against either eighth-seeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic or unseeded Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in Sunday’s WTA 500 championship match. Eala earned her spot in the semifinals by defeating second-seeded Elena Rybakina and sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina.
In Nottingham, United Kingdom, third-seeded Emma Navarro and fourth-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic both advanced to Sunday’s final at the Lexus Nottingham Open.
Navarro took down Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (5), 6-2, converting six of 18 break points against the 33-year-old in one hour and 59 minutes. The win sets up another final appearance for Navarro, who claimed the International de Strasbourg title on May 23 in France.
Bouzkova needed just 79 minutes to dispatch fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-1. Pliskova struggled throughout, committing seven double faults and winning only 23.7 percent of her first-service return points — just 9 of 38 attempts.
The two finalists, ranked 25th and 27th in the world respectively, have never previously faced each other in singles competition.
