WTA Roundup: Marta Kostyuk Tops 1 Seed Jessica Pegula in San Diego

Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine hits a backhand against Jessica Pegula of the United States (not pictured) during the second set of the semifinals of the San Diego Open in San Diego on March 2, 2024. Ray Acevedo/USA TODAY Sports via Field Level Media

Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine stormed back in the first set and won a tense tiebreaker, and then cruised to a semifinal victory over top-seeded Jessica Pegula of the U.S. at the Cymbiotika San Diego Open on Saturday night, March 2.

With the 7–6 (4), 6–1 victory, Kostyuk, the sixth seed, will take on Katie Boulter of Great Britain in Sunday’s final. Boulter, ranked 49th in the world, crushed the third seed, Emma Navarro of the U.S., 6–3, 6–1.

Kostyuk trailed Pegula 5–1 in the first set before winning five straight games, including twice breaking the top seed on serve. Pegula regrouped to tie the match at 6–6.

Kostyuk, who came from behind to defeat fourth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in a quarterfinal match on Friday, then broke away from a 3–3 tie in the tiebreaker. She won the set on her second set point.

Boulter won 88 percent of her first-serve points, to 62 percent for Navarro. She also dominated by winning 67 percent of return points on second serve.

ATX Open

Sixth-seeded Xiyu Wang of China clinched a two-set victory in a tiebreaker to defeat the top seed, Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, 6–3, 7–6 (4), in Austin, Texas.

Wang’s opponent in Sunday’s final will be countrywoman Yue Yuan, the eighth seed. She dispatched Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of the Slovak Republic 6–0, 6–3.

Wang broke away from a 3–3 tie to win the first set over Kalinina, but they battled throughout the second set, with each player losing her serve twice en route to the 6–6 tie.

Kalinina led the tiebreaker 3–2, but Wang won three straight points, including on Kalinina’s serve for a 5–3 edge. Kalinina won the next point, but Wang won the next two points on serve to take the match.