Jessica Pegula and Leylah Fernandez didn’t have to cross the street to King’s Island to find a roller coaster ride.
Instead, they hosted their own private tournament on the tennis court at the Western & Southern Open on Saturday afternoon.
Pegula survived a thrilling battle at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati to defeat Fernandez 7-5, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3) to book a place in the semifinals after three hours and five minutes of play. The American led by a set, 4-0, in the second set – and 3-0 in the third – before finally crossing the finish line in a decisive tiebreak.
After winning her second consecutive title at the WTA Premier 1000 tournament in Canada, it looked for a while as if Pegula could easily extend her winning streak to nine. But then everything went off the rails when Fernandez won five games in a row in the second set, having already trailed 0-4. The Canadian even had a three-set point on her opponent’s serve in the next game, but Pegula held on to make it 5-5. At 5-6, Pegula fended off another set point, but Fernandez dominated the ensuing tiebreak.
Fernandez’s flair for the dramatic continued in the third set. She recovered from a 0-3 deficit to level at 3-3 and eventually fended off three match points at 5-6. Pegula eventually took a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak and converted her fifth match point at 6-3.
Pegula will face the winner of the match between Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Spaniard Paula Badosa on Sunday.
Earlier in the tournament, the world number six defeated Karolina Muchova (5:7, 6:4, 6:2) and qualifier Taylor Townsend (6:2, 6:3).
On her way to the last eight, the 27th seed Fernandez ousted China’s Yue Yuan (3-6, 6-4, 6-3), Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, seeded fourth (3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4) and Russia’s Diana Shnaider (6-1, 6-4).
Cincinnati WTA 1000, other last 8 results:
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Paula Badosa
- Aryna Sabalenka (3) defeated Liudmila Samsonova (10): 6-3, 6-2
- Iga Swiatek (1) defeated Mirra Andreeva: 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
