World No. 5 Jessica Pegula completed a straight-set win over her best friend Coco Gauff when their Berlin semifinal resumed this afternoon, while Anna Kalinskaya defeated Victoria Azarenka a day earlier to also reach the final.
Pegula, seeded at No. 4 in Berlin, was 7-5 7-6 (3-1) up on top-seeded Gauff in their match when the rain suspended play on Saturday evening. With just four points away from the win, Pegula returned to the court today and needed just a couple of minutes before completing a 7-5 7-6 (2) win over the 2023 US Open champion.
For 30-year-old Pegula – who is making her second Berlin appearance this week – this is her first final at the tournament. After some rest, the second best-ranked American female tennis player will be on the court again to meet world No. 24 Klinaksaya, who beat former world No. 1 Azarenka 6-1 6-7 (3) 6-1 to make her first grass final but also her first WTA 500 final.
Going into the Berlin final, there is one thing interesting about the Pegula and Kalinskaya matchup – their first and lone meeting came in the 2019 Washington semifinal, which the American won. That week, Pegula captured her first WTA title.
Now five years later, Pegula and…
