Back Against Wall, Top Seed Pegula Rallies for QF Berth
Jessica Pegula
BIRTHDAY GIRL SHNAIDER; FORMER CHAMPS KEYS, BENCIC ALSO ADVANCE
For the second day in a row, defending champion Jessica Pegula narrowly avoided an upset bid in three sets at the Credit One Charleston Open, battling back to defeat 14th seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), in two hours and five minutes.
The top seed avenged a loss to Cocciaretto in the opening round at Wimbledon last year, though it didn’t come easy. She trailed 1-4 in the deciding set before turning it around.
“When I do get in those positions, I think my personality helps me to stay pretty even-keeled,” said Pegula. “I do think that when I am down, my personality kind of gets me out of a lot of situations because I don’t get overly stressed. I don’t think I show that. Sometimes players can feed off of each other’s energy and emotions, and if I’m not giving a lot, I think sometimes it’s hard for a player to maybe gauge how I’m feeling. I think it helps me just to think very clearly when I’m in a tough situation.”
The American now boasts 21 match wins in 2026; second only to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (23).
Diana Shnaider
It doesn’t get any easier from here for Pegula. She’ll next face seventh seed Diana Shnaider, who celebrated her 22nd birthday in winning fashion with a 6-3, 6-0 toppling of Canada’s Leylah Fernandez on Althea Gibson Club Court.
“It kind of adds a little pressure, because you don’t want to do bad on your own birthday,” laughed Shnaider. “If you lose, it kind of ruins your day just because you cannot go and celebrate when you lose a match. You want to win and finish the day on a good note. It has it’s pluses and minuses.”
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who has twice reached the final here, winning it all in 2022, notched her 20th match win in Charleston via a 7-6(4), 6-2 dismissal of 13th seed Sara Bejlek of Czechia. But the 2020 Olympic gold medalist had to dig herself out of a 3-5 opening-set deficit to do so.
Think of it, says Bencic, as winning ugly.
“Sometimes you’re almost embarrassed about your mistakes and ashamed,” she said. “You’re just like, ‘Oh, my god, what are people thinking right now?’ And then you’re like, ‘No, you can’t think like this. You just go after every point!’ You just try to fight, just stay resilient and don’t try to play too pretty, just really try to win the match. That’s all that counts.”
Next up for the 29-year-old Bencic is another former Charleston titlist in Madison Keys, the 2019 champion. Through to the quarterfinals here for the sixth time in 13 career appearances, the American took down Hungary’s Anna Bondar, 6-2, 7-5.
No. 4 seed Iva Jovic, who’s jumped 134 spots in the PIF WTA Rankings in a matter of one year, continued rolling in only her third tour-level event on clay. The 18-year-old Californian dismissed 2025 Charleston runner-up Sofia Kenin in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, in two hours, seven minutes.
McCartney Kessler prevailed, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, against 17th seed Peyton Stearns in an all-American clash on Althea Gibson Club Court, needing nine match points to do so. Her next opponent, Ukraine’s Yulia Starodubtseva, advanced with a lopsided one-hour, nine-minute 6-1, 6-0 victory over Mexico’s Renata Zarazua.
McCartney Kessler
