Jessica Pegula in action© AFP
America’s No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula completed the semifinal lineup at the Miami Open with a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 victory over Briton Emma Raducanu on Thursday (IST) at Hard Rock Stadium. The American advanced to her third semifinal in Miami in the last four years by topping the 2021 US Open champion for a second time in three career meetings. Pegula failed to seal the match in two sets after a strong rally from Raducanu in the second, where she saved four set points and fought back from a 5-2 deficit to force a tiebreak. Despite receiving medical treatment on a muggy Miami evening, Raducanu kept pushing hard. However, an early break of serve in the third set gave Pegula a lead she never gave up.
Raducanu’s only chance to break Pegula’s serve in the final set came in the third game, was turned aside by Pegula in the third game, and the American then won the last eight points to close out the win, WTA reports.
After her 19th win of the season, Pegula will now seek her sixth career WTA 1000 final, but first in Miami, against Cinderella story Alexandra Eala, the 19-year-old wild card from the Philippines, who shocked World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal match.
Pegula hasn’t won a set in either of her two previous semifinals in Miami. In 2022, she was beaten in straight sets by Swiatek as the No. 16 seed, and a year later, was upset in a tight two by then-No. 10 seed Elena Rybakina when she was seeded No. 3, according to WTA stats.
While Pegula is the favourite on paper against World No. 140 Eala, whom she won’t underestimate as the teenage Filipina upset three grand slam winners so far in the tournament to reach her first career tour-level semifinal.
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