Pegula gets her first win over Kudermetova and reaches the round of 16 in Beijing

Jessica Pegula fought her way into the round of 16 of the China Open by claiming her first win over Veronika Kudermetova in three tries.

Beijing: Results | Order of play | Pulls

No. 2 seed Pegula, a finalist at this month’s US Open, earned a 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 32 seed Kudermetova in their third-round match on Sunday in Beijing. After narrowly losing a grueling opening set, Pegula regrouped and secured the 2-hour, 39-minute victory.

Pegula lost twice to Kudermetova in 2023, including in the Tokyo final almost exactly a year ago. But the third time was the charm for Pegula against Kudermetova, and the world No. 3 recorded her best result in Beijing of her career with the win.

“Every time I played against them it was really tough,” Pegula said after the game. “After coming back from 2-5 in the first set, I kind of knew what to do, I just had to execute on it in the next few sets. I’m glad I was able to sort of figure this out and finally help myself.” Head-to-head against her.

Hard court expertise: After Pegula’s sand and grass swings were hampered by injury concerns, the American continued her exceptional hard court form in the second half of the year.

Pegula has won 17 of her last 19 matches, defending her Canadian title and reaching the finals in Cincinnati and the US Open. Her only defeat in this hard court race was against Aryna Sabalenka.

Badosa expects: Pegula will next face No. 15 seed Paula Badosa of Spain in the round of 16.

Earlier on Sunday, Badosa earned a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 victory over qualifier Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia. Badosa had to save two set points in the second set before ending Sramkova’s nine-game winning streak.

Highlights: Badosa def. Sramkova

Pegula has a much better head-to-head against Badosa than against Kudermetova. Pegula has beaten Badosa in all three games, including a win in the Cincinnati semifinals last month.

Back and forth showdown: Sunday’s dramatic first set lasted 72 minutes. Kudermetova was on a hot run, saving two set points at 5-3, but Pegula was able to win her own game and serve for the set at 6-5.

But Kudermetova scored a pass to make it 6:6 and ensure a tiebreak full of exciting rallies. Pegula had two set points on the breaker, but Kudermetova finally broke through in the opening game, converting her fifth set point with an unreturned first serve.

Nevertheless, Pegula took command after the first set went in Kudermetova’s favor. The American mastered the second set with eleven winners and six unforced errors. Kudermetova had her left leg treated by the trainer when the score was 4-1.

In the third set, Pegula maintained the momentum and used a powerful forehand to break for a 2-1 lead. Pegula fought her way to victory from there, capping the victory with her fifth ace of the day on her third match point.