Sunday, March 5, 2026, resulted in a successful campaign for America women’s tennis players at the WTA Charleston Open clay court tournament. Defending champion Jessica Pegula claimed her women’s singles title after defeating Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva. The win got her the second title of the 2026 season.
The top-seeded American had each of her matches of the tournament in three including Sunday’s final. Pegul defeated 89th-ranked Starodubtseva by sets of 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes match. Pegula is coming off a successful campaign having won the Dubai Open title in February 2026 and the Charleston victory adds to make up a total 11 titles her career.
At the start, Pegula took control of the first set, got the first break point of the match while Starodubtseva attempted a forehand wide. The Ukrainian somehow managed to save a point but found herself again in the deep to give Pegula another breakpoint. The American conceded and got the lead by 3-2 lead.
Pegula went towards a double-break then as the Ukrainian ended with more unforced errors that did not result well. The American went on to serve throughout the game and went on to break Starodubtseva to 1-0. The Ukrainian, however, tried to build some pressure on Pegula and got the break points twice. But the American was fast enough to strike back and added a lead of 2-0 and followed with another breakthrough of 3-0.
Adding another breakpoint Pegula went on to take the lead by 5-0. The resilient Starodubtseva finally breaks through and gets her first point after three straight wins. In her next serve, Pegula while holding to love ends the game to her advantage.
While crediting her victory to her fans during the post-match interview, the American top seed has retained her Charleston Open title for the second consecutive time.
Pegula said, “Thank you to the fans who supported me throughout the whole week. There were many three-set matches. It’s been such a long week for me, and you guys brought me through so many matches every single day. So thank you so much – I love playing here.”
