Jessica Pegula, the World No. 4 defeated Madison Keys at the WTA event to reach the semi-finals. Pegula defeated her in sets of 7-6(5), 7-6(8), this was their first meeting since Pegula ended Madison’s title defence at the Australian Open in January. Both players broke serve once in the opening set, forcing a tiebreak which Pegula won. She’s set to face Sabalenka on Saturday in the semi-finals.
Jessica commented on her precise shot-making during the on-court interview, “Sometimes on grass I’m not really aiming. It just goes wherever it wants to go. I think sometimes when you overthink and you try to aim too much, the grass can really kind of play you, and you lose control of the ball. So I just try to commit to hitting in the vicinity of the court. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad.”
In the other quarterfinal, Aryna Sabalenka struggled to settle against the youngster Nikola Bartunkova. She had Sabalenka down 6-2, 4-0, from which the World No. 1 regained her momentum and turned the match around to win 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. The match lasted for 2 hours and 23 minutes. This will be Sabalenka’s second straight semi-final at the Berlin Open.
“I think when I (made) a couple approaches to the net on my serve in that 4-0 game, it gave me a little bit of confidence that maybe I can show her that I still have something left,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I don’t know, I was just trying to stay in the game. I tried to find the rhythm, and I honestly think it was just a lucky match. I miraculously came back in the second set and then of course, I got some confidence that I can win this one.”
After the match, Aryna Sabalenka praised Nikola who is currently ranked at World No. 62. “She played incredible tennis, not much I could do. She was just smacking the ball; it was unbelievable level and honestly, I felt like it was her match. Oh my god, what a player. What an incredible young girl, and a future superstar for sure.”
Sabalenka and Pegula will battle it out on Saturday for a spot in the finals. Currently, Aryna leads Jessica 9-3 at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level. She emerged victorious in their most recent meeting in three sets at the WTA Finals last November.
