Jessica Pegula is a WTA Tour champion once more, having defeated fellow American McCartney Kessler in the ATX Open final.
Madison Keys wasn’t able to play the ATX Open, but Petra Kvitova made her return to tennis at the tournament.
Kvitova lost her round of 32 meeting with Jodie Burrage, having taken a 17-month break that involved giving birth to her son.
But it was top seed Pegula who went all the way in Austin, with the American clinching her seventh WTA Tour title.
She defeated compatriot Kessler 7-5, 6-2 in the ATX Open final, which represented their first career meeting.
Jessica Pegula was ‘really struggling’ in ATX Open final vs McCartney Kessler
But by her own admission, it certainly wasn’t a straightforward triumph for Pegula, who secured the trophy after one hour and 23 minutes.
“It was definitely super windy and it was tough,” said Pegula, as quoted by the Austin American-Statesman.
“But I knew it wasn’t only me getting frustrated. It was tough to serve and made for a lot of awkward shots.
“I kind of tried to adjust, play in the middle a bit more and give myself a little bit more margin where I could hit (fully) but not go for as much.
“At the end of the first set, I was still really struggling. It was ugly. It was a lot of back and forth and there were definitely a lot of points that she probably should have won, but the conditions were really tough.
“She kind of overshot a few shots and went for too much. When that happens, you don’t ask any questions and you just go ‘okay, well, I’ll just try to use that to win this set.’
“Luckily I was able to do that. She takes pretty big cuts at the ball. With how windy it was, I thought I might get some of those points.
“She goes for a lot and when you’re playing with the wind, those shots can really spray. It happened to me, too.
“I wanted to keep my foot on the gas. I felt like I kind of upped my level a little bit and she didn’t, and you just try to ride that out as long as possible.
“I was happy with the way I put my foot down in the second set, regardless of the conditions. I think everything got about 5% better in the second set. Once I felt that, I think I felt, ‘I got this.’
Jessica Pegula gets ‘extra fired up’ against American opponents
Pegula will have used the tournament as preparation for both Indian Wells and the Miami Open, which take place this month.
Like the ATX Open, they are hard court tournaments, although both are WTA 1000 events, with her Austin title coming in a WTA 250 event.
Along with Kessler, the top seed beat Arantxa Rus, Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, Anna Blinkova and Ajla Tomljanovic en route to the trophy.
Sharing her delight at the run, Pegula said: “I wanted to win this tournament with it being in the US, but I was really happy with how I got through some different challenges.
| Jessica Pegula | Stat | McCartney Kessler |
| 0 | Aces | 0 |
| 2 | Double faults | 4 |
| 59.1% | 1st serve | 70.3% |
| 64.1% | 1st serve points won | 51.1% |
| 48.1% | 2nd serve points won | 42.1% |
| 57.1% | Break points saved | 40.0% |
| 54.6% | Total points won | 45.4% |
“I think I beat some pretty in-form players, maybe not girls that are top 10. I think I was proud of how I handled every single match. And yeah, I really wanted it today.
“I feel like I get extra fired up playing against an American too. I always like to think that this is still my ground, especially with all of the younger players out there. So I just tried to use my experience today.”
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