Pegula staves off Trevisan to return to Madrid quarterfinals

No.3 seed and defending finalist Jessica Pegula

Pegula improved to 2-0 against Trevisan all-time with the win, with both matches coming this year. Pegula was a 6-4, 6-2 winner in the United Cup final in January, but was pushed harder by Trevisan in heavy conditions on the Italian's favored clay at the Caja Magíca in 2 hours and 5 minutes.

"Playing Martina is always tough. She's really tricky, especially on clay, and I think the matchup is tough for me, especially tonight when [the clay] was playing slow," Pegula told WTA Insider after the match. 

"I wasn't really feeling it out there, to be honest. I'm glad I found a way against someone who's a really tough matchup for me."

How the match was won: Pegula broke Trevisan twice en route to winning the first set, but said she needed to reset after being broken four times in the second.

She stepped up on serve, and also wore the Italian down thanks to drawn out baseline rallies in the match's late stages. After the two players traded breaks of serve in the fourth and fifth games of the decider, Pegula won the last three games with the loss of just four points. 

Trevisan double-faulted on break point twice in that span.   

"The second set, I had some of the worst stats I've ever seen on my service games," Pegula said. "I was just like, 'OK, I know I can break, I just need try and play a little smarter on my service games.'

"I started mixing up my serve more. In the second, I was getting too stubborn in wanting to get free points on my serve, but that just wasn't working. I got the rhythm back and then still kept the pressure on her on my return games."

Up next: Pegula moves through to a quarterfinal meeting against Veronika Kudermetova

"It'll be an interesting match," Pegula said. "I think she can serve really well at times, she likes to rip big on her returns as well. She's definitely not afraid to step in on those two shots and go for it. I think she'll try to hit heavy on her forehand, step in on her backhand a lot; she's a good doubles player too, so she's not afraid to come in. 

"She's tricky, I think, for everybody, so I think it will be another tough test for me."