Jessica Pegula fought back from the brink of defeat to reach the semi-finals of the Miami Open on Tuesday where she’ll play Elena Rybakina next. The third seed defeated 27th seed Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) after more than two and a half hours of play.
Potapova started off the better player in the clash and was able to win the first set despite Pegula making an attempt at a comeback from a break down. In the second set, Pegula upped her level as Potapova struggled to carry over her momentum from the first set.
The deciding set had its moments with both players seizing control over the proceedings. The lower-ranked player came from 0-2 down in the set and won four games in a row to go up 4-2. In the 10th game, while serving for the match Potapova was up 40-15 before Pegula changed the course of the match.
While Pegula was unable to consolidate the break back in the 11th game, yet another break of Potapova’s serve saw her get a second chance to see the match through. This time though she didn’t even get to reach another match point.
The tie-break was all about Pegula and she made no mistakes as she clinched the win for herself. Potapova had 27 winners for the match, four more than Pegula’s 23. She also had 57 unforced errors, two more than Pegula’s 55.
