Coco GauffEighth career meeting with Jessica Pegula it was the pair’s third at the WTA Finals.
It was a repeat of this year’s Wuhan final, won by Gauff in straight sets. It was also a roller coaster ride.
Faults and double faults flew off Gauff’s racket in the three-set battle, with Gauff showing remarkable resilience despite her struggles.
In the end, her mental toughness couldn’t get her over the finish line as Pegula wrapped up a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 win at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, snapping a two-match losing streak against the two-time major champion.
A total of 13 breaks of serve – eight for Pegula – kept the fans on the edge of their seats until Pegula finally opened up a double lead in the final set.
“She honestly served very well,” Gauff said. “There were a few times where she was getting a lot of free points. I just wanted to keep my focus in the third.
“It’s a good balance with her, where I feel like you have to be aggressive, but you also can’t overplay. She makes you execute things really well, and I’m glad I was able to do that today.”
The Buffalo, NY native ended the drama there by closing out her fifth career win over Gauff, converting her second match point to close out the victory in two hours and 12 minutes.
45 unforced errors and 17 double faults contributed to Gauff’s undoing, credit to him for making the match with those numbers.
Pegula said the conditions in Riyadh are faster, which helped him today.
“Wuhan is really slow, super tough,” she said. “There’s a little bit of height here and even though the ball bounces up, I think my ball slides a little bit more down the court and I don’t think she could get it on me as much as she wanted to.”
Pegula continues her recent mastery in the third set – she has now won nine of ten deciders since the US Open.
