The top-seeded Jessica Pegula (USA) survived an epic battle with compatriot Amanda Anisimova in the second round of the WTA 500 Charleston Open with a prize money of 922,573 USD. The American, who is ranked fifth in the world, needed 2:26 hours to break the resistance of her opponent after a reversal with 2-1 (3:6, 6:4, 7:6). Amanda Anisimova is a former Top 25 player, but is currently ranked 264th in the WTA rankings.
“It’s always hard to play Amanda because she’s really great”, said Jessica Pegula after the match. On the way to the win, she hit 7 aces and made four breaks out of 15 opportunities. Amanda Anisimova made 4 of 8 break points. “I just had to change my style, I started being a little more active with my feet, pushing her a little more and moving her around the court. It was a really great match, especially the last set was super high”, added Jessica Pegula.
It was Jessica Pegula‘s second win over Amanda Anisimova, following her straight sets success in their only previous meeting at the 2020 New York tournament. The world’s No 5 has not lost to a player outside the Top 100 since last summer, when Taylor Townsend knocked her out in Rome.
Her next opponent will be Magda Linette (Poland), who made a comeback against the 13th-seeded Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine) by 2-1 (0:6, 6:4, 6:3).
