Top seed Jessica Pegula survived a scare against Amanda Anisimova in the first round of the Credit One Charleston Open, escaping 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
After dropping the first set and more or less controlling the second of the all-American affair, Pegula squandered a 4-2 lead in the third set, having leapt out to a 6-1 lead in the tie-break before winning on her third match point.
Anisimova made Pegula work hard by saving 11 of 15 break points and winning more than half of her second return points (21 of 40). But Pegula held firm, and in the third set she won 27 of her 39 service points in order to put away the two-hour, 26-minute match.
“I just kind of had to buckle down, and I think I started being a little bit more active with my feet and pressuring her a little bit more and being able to move her and kind of scrap out a few points as well,” Pegula said.
“I just kind of found a way today, but it was a really great match, I thought, especially the last set was super high level.”
No 3 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece defeated Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-3 6-3, while Magda Linette of Poland stormed back for a 0-6 6-4 6-3 upset of Ukrainian 13th seed Dayana Yastremska. Other winners included Australia’s Astra Sharma and Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Americans Sloane Stephens, Danielle Collins, Taylor Townsend, Ashlyn Krueger and Caroline Dolehide all won their first-round matches. Stephens took just 66 minutes to sweep Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-0 6-2.
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Highlights of Danielle Collins against Elena Rybakina in the Miami Open final.
Miami Open winner Collins, who beat Paula Badosa 6-1 6-4, has disclosed this will be her finish season on the WTA Tour. She has endometriosis, an ailment that affects the uterus.
“I’d rather like to go out with a bang, you know, than the other way,” Collins said. “I know everybody has a different way of ending their professional career, and for me I want to go out playing my best tennis.”
No 8 seed Madison Keys fell to Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, however, 3-6 6-3 6-3.
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