Pegula defeats Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5 at WTA Finals in Indian Wells to keep semi hopes alive

Jessica Pegula beat Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5 at the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells on Tuesday, keeping her hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive.

Kostyuk, who had entered the event as a late replacement, was eliminated by the defeat. Pegula, a 32-year-old American, had been beaten by Coco Gauff in her opening group match at Indian Wells on Sunday.

The 32-year-old American dominated the opening set, breaking Kostyuk in the first and seventh games to take the opener 6-2. Pegula's early control forced Kostyuk onto the defensive and left Pegula with the match lead going into the second set. The first-set score set the stage for a much tighter second set.

A chaotic second set began with four consecutive service breaks before Kostyuk held for a 3-2 lead. The Ukrainian then had a break point in the next game but was unable to convert as Pegula held for 3-3. The next four games went with serve until Pegula grabbed the decisive break in the 11th game, converting her fourth break point to move 6-5 ahead, and then held serve to close out the match when Kostyuk sent a forehand long.

After the victory Pegula said: “I feel like I’m playing well,” Pegula said. “I felt my match against Coco was a super high-level match and that was a great match today. “It’s so tricky with her because you just don’t know what’s gonna come – she will just step in and inject pace, she’ll come and kamikaze the net, she goes for returns or her serve can get hot. That’s what makes it difficult to play her.”

The win leaves Pegula able to advance to the last four with a victory over Czech eighth seed Linda Noskova in her final group match.