Find a way.
That was the story of Jessica Pegula throughout the week in Charleston, where she moved away from the set in each of her first three matches and won three consecutive setters until Sunday’s final against Yuliia Starodubtseva.
In the end, he saved his fiercest performance for when it mattered most. Pegula defeated the number one seed 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour and 22 minutes to win the Charleston Open, successfully defending his title. She is the first repeat champion of the tournament since Serena Williams in 2013.
“Thank you to the fans who supported me all this week,” Pegula said during the trophy presentation. There were many three-way games. It’s been such a long week for me, and you guys have helped me with so many games every day. So thank you very much. I love playing here.
The victory gives Pegula her second title of 2026, following her WTA 1000 victory in Dubai in February, and the 11th title of her career. She is now 11-11 in WTA singles finals and leads the Mercedes-Benz WTA Tour with 24 wins this season.
Speaking of 11, that’s also how many hours he spent on court this week – 11 hours and 22 minutes to be exact. Her run began with a victory of 3 hours, 10 minutes over another Yulia, Yulia Putintseva, a marathon that set the tone for the grind to come.
Game report: While subsequent medals Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Diana Shnaider and Iva Jovic added wear and tear to that opening match, none of them showed in Sunday’s match. Pegula came up short at 2-1, but rattled off five straight games to take the first set in more than half an hour.
The change came to 2-2, when Starodubtseva missed in the open court giving Pegula a slight advantage at 30-30. Another first error on the next point gave her a break point, and although she didn’t convert that, a third point miss on the same wing by Starodubtseva gave Pegula a break.
His five-game hitting streak in the first round extended to 10 straight as he built a 5-0 lead in the second. Serving for the match, she hit a short break in the 12th game where Starodubtseva saved three championship points and earned the first break of the afternoon. But Pegula righted the ship two games later.
A clean first run to open the final set the table for a love affair, and 15 minutes after his first chance, he converted his fourth championship point to clinch the highlight of Easter Sunday.
Math pack: Pegula had almost everything that worked. Her placement pointed to both wings, and she combined a variety of styles — shots, slices and her trademark backhand — to keep Starodubtseva off balance. That combination has helped him win 56% of return points against an opponent he usually serves on clay.
But it was Pegula’s own performance, which has recently attracted attention for its added pop, that stood out. She hit three aces, and outside of a marathon opening serve, faced just two break points all afternoon.
He dropped just six points in his first game, going 26 of 34 for a nearly 77 percent clip.
Look ahead: Carrying anything close to that level of success throughout the clay season will serve Pegula well as he looks to improve from last year’s Round of 32 in Madrid and Rome and a fourth-place finish at Roland Garros. She will begin her transition to the red clay in Europe as World Number 5, where she will remain when the PIF WTA rankings are released on Monday.
Meanwhile, Starodubtseva is set for a big jump. After entering the week at No. 89, he is slated to move up to a career high of 53, 10 spots above his previous best of No.
By the end of the week, she had beaten home favorites McCartney Kessler and Madison Keys en route to her first WTA final, earning the respect of her peers along the way.
“Thank you Yuliia,” said Pegula. “Amazing tennis this week. Nothing but good luck to you and your team. And if anyone doesn’t know, he has an amazing story. So I encourage you to get to know him a little bit and keep cheering him on.”
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