No.12 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States moved into the biggest final of her career at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 in their late-night semifinal clash.

In a match that extended past midnight local time, Pegula took 1 hour and 21 minutes to ease past 35th-ranked Teichmann in their first meeting. Pegula books a spot in her first WTA 1000 final and her fourth Hologic WTA Tour final overall.

"[Teichmann is] a super tricky lefty," Pegula said after her win. "It was hard because I felt like I couldn’t get a rhythm, really. Maybe the start of the first set she came out a little nervous and I was able to come out strong, which helped, but it was just tricky today."

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Jabeur awaits in the final: Pegula will now take on a fellow first-time WTA 1000 finalist, No.8 seed Ons Jabeur, in Saturday’s championship match. Jabeur defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova in Thursday's earlier semifinal.

"For me and Ons…she was ranked [in the seventies] like two years ago, I think I was like the same, so it’s pretty crazy," said Pegula. "It just shows you, hard work and determination, playing week in and week out, just trying to get better every week, you can get to the top as long as you believe it. So I think it’s great for both of us. It means a lot to me."

The head-to-head between Pegula and Jabeur is tied at 2-2, but this will be their first clay-court meeting after four previous hard-court matches. Pegula won the first two meetings (Quebec City 2018 and Montréal 2018), but Jabeur has won the last two (Chicago 2021 and Dubai 2022).

Grand showings: World No.14 Pegula had been moving towards this moment after consistently strong results at WTA 1000 events over the past two years. Coming into Madrid, Pegula had reached the quarterfinals or better at six of her last 11 WTA 1000 events.

Pegula has won a total of 28 WTA 1000-level matches spanning the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Only World No.1 Iga Swiatek has won more matches at that level during that timeframe, with 29.

A semifinal showing at the most recent WTA 1000 event in Miami set Pegula up for a deep run in the first clay-court WTA 1000 tournament of the season. Pegula, though, had to save a match point in her Madrid first-round battle with Camila Giorgi.

Great Escapes 2022: Winning from match point down

Spurred on by that early escape, Pegula did not drop a set in her subsequent matches. Pegula is now a win away from claiming her second career singles title, to go along with her champion's trophy from the 2019 Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

Match breakdown: Both Pegula and Teichmann won at least half of their second-service points in their semifinal showdown, but Pegula was particularly strong defending that shot, claiming 16 of her 23 second-service points.

The pair had 13 unforced errors apiece, but flat-hitting Pegula was finding more winners on the day, with 22 to Teichmann's 12. Those winners helped Pegula build an early advantage, putting her a point away from a quick 4-0 lead.

But Teichmann, who had previously not dropped a set in the tournament, held on and pulled back on serve at 3-2. Pegula, though, reclaimed her break lead in the next game, and the American found multiple forehand winners to tough out a service hold in the final game of the set.

Teichmann again fought back from an early break down in the second set, reaching parity at 4-4. But Pegula prevailed in rallies to break the Swiss once more and serve for the match at 5-4. Pegula stormed back from 0-30 down in that game to clinch her spot in the final.

Pegula partially credited her quarterfinal win over Sara Sorribes Tormo for her play today. "[That match] made me be patient, because both [Sorribes Tormo and Teichmann] play a heavy ball, and they both try to go heavy to my backhand side.

"I was just trying to neutralize the ball and not get too impatient, so I think playing Sara really put that in my mind today."