American Jessica Pegula held on to defeat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-2, (4) 6-7, 6-4 on Saturday in a match where serving appeared to be a major disadvantage, advancing to the National Bank Open women's singles final.
Jessica Pegula of the United States, left, shakes hands with Iga Swiatek of Poland, following her win during semifinal action at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal, Aug. 12, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne MuschiJessica Pegula could not get her serve going on Saturday. Luckily for her, neither could her opponent.
"I was just like, I know I'll get more chances if I can just ... hold. Basically, it was whoever could kind of consolidate the break." WTA players are testing out Wilson extra duty balls -- instead of regular duty -- for the first time on hard courts this week, through next week and into the U.S. Open in late August/early September.
Swiatek -- the No. 1 for 71 weeks running -- made an uncharacteristic number of errors throughout the match, including four double faults. "Two similar players, serve big, hit big, like to really go after their shots, both really tall, physical girls," she said. "Whoever wins I feel like it's a very similar game plan, trying to take away their serve and then do my best to just play my game."
And Pegula wasn't done there. She broke once more as Swiatek continued making unforced errors while serving, despite getting 86 per cent of her first serves in play.Swiatek opened the second set strong, finally winning her first service game of the match.Swiatek and Pegula both broke each other twice consecutively before the American held to tie the set 3-3.
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