New World No.3 Jessica Pegula couldn’t hide her happiness and excitement after becoming WTA 1000 champion for the first time at the age of 28. On Sunday, Pegula defeated fifth-ranked Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3 in the Guadalajara final.
Pegula, who has been one of the most consistent players this season, added another positive chapter to her great season by winning Guadalajara. «I’m super excited, relieved, happy, like all emotions. Dedicating it to my mother was very special, I know she was watching from home.»
Just a lot of emotions, but super excited just to get a big title next to my name. That was something that I really wanted this year, and I kept saying that was one of my goals, so to be able to achieve it by the end of the year is great.
I thought I played really solid, I didn’t really make a lot of dumb mistakes or stupid decisions. I served very intelligently, I returned well. There were a lot of different points where maybe I had to cut and go, or serve and volley, or do something different, and I just didn’t panic, I just did what I had to do to win the point. and it was working,» Pegula said after the match, according to the WTA website.
How did Pegula defeat Sakkari?
No break points were seen in the first three games as Sakkari led 2-1 at the start of the first set. Pegula then went on a huge run, after claiming back-to-back breaks to win five games in a row and win the opener in style.
After easily winning the first set, Pegula earned the first break of the second set in game three to open a 2-1 lead. In game seven, Pegula broke Sakkari again to go up 5-2. Pegula failed to serve for the match in game eight, but broke Sakkari again in game nine, when the Greek was serving to stay in the final.
