Pegula wins two matches in one day to make Cincinnati quarterfinals

CINCINNATI -- If Jessica Pegula needed any further proof of her summer surge, she need look no further than her workmanlike effort on Friday at the Cincinnati Open. After rain delayed her first match of the tournament to Friday, the 30-year-old American pulled double duty to win two matches in one day and advance to the Cincinnati quarterfinals.

Cincinnati: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

Pegula began the day with a tough opener against last year's finalist Karolina Muchova. The World No.6 came from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Then, after a few hours rest, she returned to court to beat Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-3 to secure her spot in the final eight. 

Pegula has now won her last seven matches and shed any concerns around what she felt, even a month ago, was a sub-par season. 

"It's kind of funny, I keep saying it looks like a bad year," Pegula said before the tournament, "but I've won a 500 and a 1000. 

"I think I know that the level is still there, obviously. I just need to stay healthy and try and do my best for the rest of the year. But yeah, it's turned around a little bit."

Pegula finished last season with a flurry. She picked up her second career WTA 1000 title in Montreal, won Seoul, and finished runner-up at the WTA Finals. A stalwart at the Hologic WTA Tour's biggest tournaments, Pegula finally felt the after-effects of her non-stop playing schedule over the last three seasons.

After a surprise coaching change in February, injuries knocked Pegula out of four WTA 1000 events. After skipping the European clay season, she returned on the grass and proceeded to win Berlin in a dramatic match-point-saving effort. In many ways, that title came as a surprise. Where Pegula was set to truly flourish was on the hard courts.

"It was hard, a little bit, going straight to the grass and popping in for the clay for one week and then back on the hard," Pegula said. "But I feel like now it's going to be the first part of my season where I actually have a set [schedule]. 

"You're playing on hard courts the rest of the year, you get to prep and train. So I think it's definitely sped that whole thing up a little bit where my year has turned around a little bit."  

By winning Toronto, Pegula became the first player to successfully defend the Canadian Open since Martina Hingis 24 years ago. In Cincinnati, she has the chance to pull off one of the most rare doubles in the sport. The last woman to win titles in Canada and Cincinnati in back-to-back tournaments was Evonne Goolagong over 50 years ago, in 1973.

"Toronto was definitely a tough week mentally," Pegula said. "Being able to come back and just focus on competing, I think in a way it almost helped me because I didn't have time to think about how I was really feeling. 

"It's not like I had this massive prep and I was going into this week expecting to do well. It was kind of like, okay, let's just see where we are. Let's try to get the movement back. Let's try to get the feeling back on hard courts with the balls and stuff like that."

The key for Pegula has been the very thing that lifted her to success: playing. Pegula went immediately from the Paris 2024 Olympics into Toronto and now Cincinnati. The non-stop schedule seems to have unlocked her workmanlike attitude. 

"It feels good that I'm back in the groove of things," Pegula said. "Playing a lot of matches was kind of my thing for a while, and in the beginning of the year, it wasn't the case.

"I saw streaks of it and I was still playing some decent tennis, but the match toughness has definitely gone up another level these last couple of weeks. It's great for me. I'm not even that upset that I had to play two matches. I feel like for next week, going into the Open it will help my match fitness as well."

Pegula will face 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Fernandez followed up her match-point-saving win over No.4 Elena Rybakina in the second round to oust red-hot Diana Shnaider 6-1, 6-4. The victory put the 21-year-old Canadian into her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal of the year.