Jessica Pegula beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to reach the third round at the Australian Open under the closed roof of the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Pegula broke twice in the first and fifth games to open up a 4-1 lead. Sasnovich pulled one break back in the sixth game for 2-4, but Pegula broke for the third time to win the first set 6-2.
Pegula earned an early break in the first game of the second set to open up a 2-0 lead. Sasnovich broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3.
Pegula earned a second break in the seventh game for 4-3 and served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Sasnovich broke back to draw level to 5-5 forcing the second set to the tie-break.
Pegula earned an early mini-break twice at 1-0 and 3-2 in the tie-break, but Sasnovich pulled back on serve both times. Pegula earned two match points at 6-4 with another mini-break. Sasnovich broke back for the third time, but Pegula sealed the win with another mini-break on her second match point.
Pegula scored her second win over Sasnovich at a Grand Slam tournament for the second time in five months after beating her Belarusian opponent 6-4 6-4 in the second round at the US Open.
“I was definitely ready for her to get streaky, to get streaky, and I am just glad that I was able to close it out in two sets. Even though it seemed like I was cruising, I had a lot of tough service games, a lot of long return games as well. It toughens you up”, said Pegula.
Pegula has reached the quarter finals on her last two appearances at the Australian Open in 2021 and 2022 and is aiming to advance to the semifinals this year.
“That’s the plan. You want to take it one match at a time, but you want to have those big goals”, commented Pegula.
