Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka played out yet another thriller when they met in the WTA Finals round robin.
And it was WTA Tour number one Sabalenka who emerged victorious, battling to a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Pegula in Riyadh.
Pegula was praised by Laura Robson despite the defeat, which followed her opening win over fellow American Coco Gauff.
It was far from a straightforward victory for the Belarusian, with Sabalenka’s coach Anton Dubrov leaving during the match.
Dubrov really upset Sabalenka, who also felt remorse afterwards for taking her frustration out on her coach in the WTA Finals match.
Jessica Pegula comments on Aryna Sabalenka getting ‘really angry’ against her
As per Tennis, Pegula discussed that anger when analysing her fantastic rivalry with Sabalenka, saying: “I do think we have really great matches, memorable matches.
“I wish I won more of them… even my coaches were saying, they’re like, ‘Whenever you guys play each other, it seems like you guys seem to bring out such a high level in each other.’
“So, I feel like, do I love losing? No. But I feel like, if you asked me in 10 years, like I look back and had all these super memorable matches with her. I think it’s, it’s pretty cool. I just wish I won more of them.
“I felt like she just got really angry and played really well, which tends to be what she does. I feel like when she starts getting really hyped up and yelling, ‘Come on,’ and screaming… that’s kind of when you’ve activated another level to her.
“So I can either go one of two ways, and I felt like it just kind of went against me today, and she played well.”
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Jessica Pegula previews her last WTA Finals group match as she chases semifinal spot
Pegula will likely have plenty more opportunities to exact revenge over her rival, who has won eight of their 11 meetings on the WTA Tour.
For now, however, her focus is on defeating Jasmine Paolini in her third and final round robin match at the WTA Finals.
Pegula said of the upcoming clash: “I think obviously it’s going to be a bit mental knowing that I need to win the match in order to move forward in this event.
“But at the same time, a lot of you know tactical stuff [is important] in order to kind of see what I can do differently from the last time that I played her.
“Last time she beat me [at the Billie Jean King Cup in September], so I think there’s definitely going to be some things that I’m going to want to change from last time, and I think that’ll be really important.”
Elsewhere in Riyadh, Gauff and Sabalenka also meet in the Stefanie Graf group, while Madison Keys has withdrawn from the WTA Finals.
She was in the Serena Williams group, from which Amanda Anisimova has reached the WTA Finals semifinals alongside Elena Rybakina.
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