Number 3 seed Jessica Pegula has reached the fourth round at the Australian Open for the third consecutive year after cruising past Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-0 6-2 in 65 minutes on Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.
The match was tighter than the scoreline suggests. Four of the six games in the opening set went to multiple deuces. Pegula fended off five break points to hold her service game for 4-0 before converting her third break point to take a bagel win in the first set.
Pegula earned two breaks in the third and fifth games to race out to a 4-1 lead. Kostyuk pulled one of the two breaks back for 2-4 in the sixth game. Kostyuk missed a forehand volley on game point in the seventh game before Pegula earned another break to open up a 5-3 lead. Pegula saved two break points in the final game to close out the match on serve after two deuces.
Pegula has dropped only eleven games in three matches this week.
“I think the score obviously looked dominant, but there were a lot of really tough games in that match. She can be really a dangerous player. I think I just did a good job of playing every single point, every single game, really tough, not letting her get any free points or free games. I made her really have to earn it today”, said Pegula.
Pegula set up a fourth round match against 2021 Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova who beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-2 6-3. Pegula has never met Krejcikova before on the WTA Tour. Krejcikova has dropped 14 in six sets this week.
Coco Gauff beat Bernarda Pera 6-3 6-2 to reach the fourth round for the second round. Pera fended off 12 of the 16 break points she faced and hit one more winner than Gauff, but she made 40 unforced errors. Gauff has won all eight of her matches played in 2023 without dropping a set.
Gauff converted her third break point in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead after a loose forehand from Pera. Gauff wasted three set points at 5-2, but she the first set on her first opportunity, as Pera sliced into the net.
Gauff earned another break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead after another forehand error from Pera. Gauff had to fend off a break point to hold on her service game before earning a double break in a long fifth game when Pera sent her forehand wide. Pera pulled a break back after a double break point from Gauff.
However, Gauff earned her third break after Pera hit a backhand into the net. Gauff sealed the win on her fourth match point when Pera fired long.
Gauff lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin in the fourth round at the 2020 edition of the Australian Open. Gauff set up a match against 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Ukraine’s Kateryna Baindl 6-3 6-0 achieving her first win in their four head-to-head matches.
Gauff will be looking to reach the quarter final at the Australian Open for the first time in her career. The US teenager has won 10 of her last 11 matches against fellow American players. “It was a really hard match. She hit the ball really hard. I was just trying to hang in there. Last season she had a long match winning streak so I knew she would be a tough player to beat, but I am happy to be through to the second week”, said Gauff.
