Starodubtseva, Pegula Set Unlikely Charleston Open Title Showdown

Yuliia Starodubtseva
Yuliia Starodubtseva (photo: Charleston Tennis LLC)

CHARLESTON, S.C./WASHINGTON, April 5, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

On the grainy green clay of the Credit One Charleston Open, anything can happen – and on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the South Carolina Lowcountry, the semifinals of the WTA 500-series event produced one big surprise and one predictable outcome. Two stories were written and one will conclude Sunday with a happy ending.

By the 5 o’clock cocktail hour, the largest women’s stand-alone pro tennis tournament in North America that annually kicks off the WTA’s clay-court season, witnessed 89th-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine pull off the week’s biggest surprise to become the darling of Daniel Island. She upset 2019 Charleston champion Madison Keys of the United States, 6-1, 6-4, in an hour and 13 minutes. 

Starodubtseva owned Credit One Stadium from first ball to last ball, and come Sunday afternoon, she will be playing in her first WTA Tour final against defending champion Jessica Pegula of the United States. The top-seeded Pegula won a three-set, all-American semifinal tussle over 18-year-old No. 4 seed Iva Jovic earlier Saturday, playing in her fourth consecutive Charleston Open semifinal.

“I mean, thank you so much for supporting me,” Starodubtseva said during her on-court interview, thanking the crowd. “I know I might not be the favorite today, but I feel like the American crowd is like half my home.

“Thank you also to all the Ukrainians who came out, I really appreciate it. I know my heart is always with you, my heart is always home.

“I honestly have no words. It’s a big moment for me. I just appreciate every second here.”

Starodubtseva broke the World No. 15 Keys in each of the American’s first three service games, and before the semifinal was even half an hour old, the Ukrainian had mounted a 5-1 lead. Then, she gained a set point at 30-40 in the seventh game and broke Keys for the fourth time to win the opening set 6-1. 

It was a rough opening set for the No. 5 seed Keys, who in addition to encountering problems with her service games, also hit three double faults and committed 17 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Starodubtseva maintained her poise and struck seven winners and outpointed Keys 28-16.

Keys finally gained her first hold of the match in the second game of the second set to level matters at 1-all. She received plenty of encouragement from the Credit One Stadium crowd, who had been supportive of her all week. Soon, at 3-2, Starodubtseva broke Keys for the fifth time in seven opportunities to take a commanding 4-2 lead, and consolidated the break to go to the changeover ahead 5-2.

After Keys held at 30, Starodubtseva went to work to serve for the semifinal win. However, she learned first-hand that it’s never easy to beat a Top-20 player, and the former Charleston champion Keys broke back to prolong matters. Finally, Starodubtseva hit an eighth-shot cross-court forehand winner on match point to extend the best week of her life with arguably the biggest of her 23 career tour-level victories. It was her third career win over a Top-20 opponent.

Starodubtseva, who began as a qualifier in her Charleston Open debut but was elevated into the main draw after a withdrawal, had never played in a WTA Tour-level semifinal – let alone a final. However, by the time her last-four encounter with Keys in her 13th Charleston appearance ended, she won the biggest match of her pro career – and it prevented an all-American final. Instead, she’s the first Ukrainian player to reach the title final in Charleston tournament history dating back to 1973.

The 26-year-old Ukrainian, who played collegiately in the United States at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., from 2017-22, broke into pro tennis after playing UTR tournaments and working part-time at a Westchester, New York country club giving lessons.

Against Keys, Starodubtseva finished with 17 winners to 23 unforced errors, compared to 11 winners and 30 unforced errors by her opponent. She converted six of eight break-point opportunities, was broken twice by Keys, and outpointed the 31-year-old American 59-40 to win the semifinal and prolong the best tournament week of her professional career. Now, win or lose against Pegula, she will earn the biggest paycheck of her pro career Sunday, $218,225 for reaching the title match, $354,345 if she wins it all.

When she was asked what it took to pull out a straight-set victory, Starodubtseva deadpanned her answer with a smile, saying “A lot!”

Starodubtseva added: “Maddie is a great opponent, a great player. I’ve watched a lot of her matches. It’s never easy to take on someone like that. Congratulations to her on a great tournament. Staying solid, staying aggressive was the key. I know I had a shaky moment at 5-2 and didn’t hold. But I got through it and played aggressive.”

Later, during her news conference, Starodubtseva, who has improved her career-best ranking to No. 53 by advancing to the final and could reach No. 42 if she’s victorious, added: “I’m definitely excited to play in the final. Charleston is a great tournament, and I feel like it’s a strong [WTA] 500 to be in the final of. So, feeling a little proud of myself today.”

Pegula goes the distance to win fourth-straight three-settter

Meanwhile, for the fourth straight match, Pegula went the distance to win in the first semifinal over the World No. 16 Jovic, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 – and she’s through to her second-straight Charleston Open final. The defending champion may have been outsmarted, outplayed and out served, but Pegula still was outstanding when it counted most. Only seven points separated Pegula from Jovic by the time the match ended after two hours and 35 minutes, but the American No. 2 walked off court with another dramatic win – her ninth straight Charleston triumph – and it was her 23rd victory of the 2026 season.

For the first time all week – after losing the opening set three-straight times – Pegula won the first set 6-4 in 61 minutes despite losing eight of the first nine points of the semifinal and being broken in her initial service game. She endured a seven-deuce, 22-point third game, in which Jovic saved seven break points spread across 17 minutes and finally held serve. It was also the first set all tournament that Jovic had dropped – and she had her chances to win it.

In the second set, on serve through the first 11 games, Jovic took a 6-5 lead going into the changeover. Then, she gained a 0-40 break point/set point. However, Pegula saved two break points before Jovic hit a fourth-shot forehand winner to win the 48-minute second set and force a decider. 

Next, Jovic broke for an early 2-0 lead to start the third set. However, Pegula fought back and leveled the score. Although Jovic erased three break points in the fifth game, Pegula broke on her fourth opportunity to grab a 3-2 lead. She consolidated the break 4-2 with a sold hold of serve. Soon, Pegula extended her lead to 5-3 and it placed the defending champion closer to returning to Sunday’s title match.

Pegula gained her first match point in the next game, but Jovic saved it with a high overhead forehand winner. With match point erased, Jovic immediately swatted a backhand out of play and faced another match point on her serve from Pegula. This time, Pegula misplayed a second-serve from Jovic, not taking it on the rise and she paid for her mistake.

However, Pegula gained a third match point after Jovic hit a seventh-shot forehand long and wide – and, this time, she cashed in on her opportunity. Jovic made an unforced error with a third-shot forehand return and victory was Pegula’s to savor.

Pegula won only 63 percent (64 of 102) of her service points but it was a better percentage than Jovic, who won just 58 percent (67 of 115). She hit 23 winners to 25 unforced errors, compared to 31 winners and 30 unforced errors by Jovic. Pegula converted five of 19 break points and saved eight of 11. She outpointed her opponent 112-105.

Once again, Pegula took the scenic route to victory but come Sunday, she will be playing for an opportunity to win back-to-back Charleston Open titles against Starodubtseva. Pegula is 10-11 lifetime in WTA Tour finals, while Starodubtseva will be experiencing her first WTA Tour final. 

“That was a tough one today,” Pegula said during her on-court interview. “Honestly, I was just started thinking about how tired I was. I’ve spent a lot of hours on this court this week. I mean, Iva’s an amazing player and she’s going to be a superstar for years to come. All respect for her. She’s outstanding for her age, really. I’m sure you will be cheering her on a lot more for the coming years.”

Pegula was asked what she learned about herself on court after beating Jovic. She said: “I don’t know, I’m just, like, so tired. I don’t know, it lets me play tennis instead of getting frustrated or worried about other things. Sometimes, when I just, like – I know it sounds like I’m being negative – give in to my emotions and it lets me play a little bit freer. I kept battling out there. It was tough, I had to make a lot of adjustments. It wasn’t pretty at times but I think it came down to competing and playing the bigger points maybe a little bit better.”

During her news conference, Pegula talked about her ability to be a problem solver and to be able to work herself out of trouble during a three-set match. 

“It’s become a strength of mine,” said Pegula, who earlier in the week played the longest three-set match of her career, three hours and 10 minutes. “And I kind of joked, maybe when girls get up a break in the third [set] against me, maybe, that’s when they feel more pressure because I’ve been coming back at that time, even though it doesn’t seem like it’s a good time to come back. But no, I think I’ve been doing a really good job of problem solving.”

Around the Charleston Open

• Due to possible inclement weather in the Charleston area on Sunday, tournament organizers decided to move up the starting times for Sunday’s singles and doubles finals. 

The doubles final was switched from 12:30 p.m. EDT to 11 a.m., with the singles final to start not before 1 p.m. Originally, it was scheduled for 3 p.m.

• With Saturday’s originally scheduled second doubles semifinal cancelled due to an injury walk over, Desirae Krawczyk and Caty McNally, who are set to compete in Sunday’s doubles final against Anna Bondar of Hungary and Magdalena Frech of Poland, got together for a special mixed doubles exhibition with Hall of Fame legends and former No. 1 doubles team Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan on Credit One Stadium.

Krawczyk was paired with Mike Bryan while McNally formed a team with Bob Bryan.

Saturday’s Charleston Open results

Sunday’s Charleston Open order of play

By the numbers

• While two of Madison Keys‘s 10 WTA titles have come on clay, at Strasbourg in 2024 and at the Charleston Open in 2019, seven of her 10 Tour-level singles titles have come at WTA 500 events. Her most recent WTA 500 title was last year at Adelaide.

• According to Tennis Channel‘s Brett Haber, next week will mark the 200th straight week that Jessica Pegula has been ranked in the WTA Top 20.

“Quotable …”

“There is an inside joke that I’m so comfortable on green clay because I coached it for a year. … Everyone. I coached a ladies’ clinic, a men’s clinic, kids, camp, whatever you say, 10 hours a day sometimes. [Then,] I chose to go pro.”

– Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine, during her post-match news conference Friday evening after she upset McCartney Kessler to reach her first WTA Tour semifinal.

 

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