Clay Dreams Come True: Top Seed Pegula Captures COCO Crown
WITH CAREER-FIRST CLAY TITLE, PEGULA LEAPFROGS GAUFF AS TOP-RANKED AMERICAN
Top seed Jessica Pegula captured the first clay-court title of her career on Sunday at the 2025 Credit One Charleston Open, defeating Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 7-5, in a rare all-American final on Daniel Island.
It marks Pegula’s second singles title in her last four tournaments, a prolific stretch that has seen her reach three finals. Pegula will rise to No. 3 in the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday, usurping Coco Gauff as the top ranked American.
Sunday’s final was the first between two U.S. players at this event since Martina Navratilova defeated Jennifer Capriati on Hilton Head Island in 1990.
“It’s my first clay-court title, which is really cool. To win it here in Charleston, it’s super special,” said Pegula, holding on to her dog Maddie, a Miniature Australian Shepherd.
Pegula’s taxing Miami-to-Charleston, cement-to-clay pivot appeared to be catching up to her in the second set, as she struggled to stay in rallies and soon found herself trailing, 5-1. But Kenin couldn’t capitalize on any of her three set points. As she has done so many times before, Pegula would work her way back into the stanza, reeling off the final six games to close out the championship in one hour and 26 minutes.
It might have been a brief exchange with her coach, Mark Merklein, that sparked the turnaround.
“I actually told him, ‘I think I hit a wall.’ I just realized how tired I was,” said Pegula, 31. “She started to play some high-level tennis. There were a couple of games where I didn’t break, I didn’t hold. It was super windy, super tough conditions. I felt like if you just lost focus or stopped moving your feet for a few seconds, it just swings so fast. It was kind of the same way for both of us.”
The defeat was an emotional one for Kenin, who coming into the title tilt had yet to drop a set through five matches. The Floridian was looking to end a five-year title drought that traces back to 2020, the year she won the Australian Open title and rose to a career-high No. 4 in the PIF WTA Rankings. The 26-year-old was playing in her first clay-court final since Roland Garros that same year.
One of the tour’s most consistent performers over the past two years, Pegula now owns a WTA-best 25 match wins on the season. After reaching three straight semifinals in Charleston, she finally has the trophy within her grasp.
“I think my perseverance won me a lot of matches this week,” said Pegula. “Especially on the clay, I feel like you have to have kind of that grittiness and that toughness, because the serve isn’t as effective. There’s not as many free points, and I think winning a couple of tough points or a tough game can kind of turn the momentum of a set or a match, and I felt like I was able to do that multiple times this week. It doesn’t always happen every single week, but when you’re able to do it and take home the title, I think you look back in those moments. Pivotal moments are really important.”
Pegula’s run in Charleston is especially sweet given her ties to the Lowcountry. She moved from Pittsburgh to Hilton Head in her early junior days, training at the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy. Beginning in her early 20s, she trained on Daniel Island on and off for a few years under former ATP pro Michael Joyce.
“It’s honestly really where I learned how to play and the technical aspects of my game,” she said. “Hilton Head is kind of where I always feel like I grew up a little bit, being that kind of age and growing up in that time and learning my strokes and learning how to play. So I definitely have a lot of ties here, and it’s kind of where I feel like I always learned how to play tennis, so it’s really cool to come back and win this title.”
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