SAN DIEGO, February 29, 2024 (by Richard Osborne)
Returning to the singles court for the first time since an early Australian Open exit, and for the first time since cutting ties with her longtime coach David Witt, top-seeded American Jessica Pegula advanced to the quarterfinals of the Cymbiotika San Diego Open with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Germany’s Jule Niemeier.Pegula, who celebrated her 30th birthday on Saturday, showed no signs of the neck injury that kept her from playing the WTA Tour’s Middle East swing earlier this month. The world No. 5 all but sprinted through the opening set in a mere 24 minutes, and would save four of the five break points she faced on a brisk evening at Barnes Tennis Center.
Perfection to end it 💯
In her first match since the Australian Open, top seed @jpegula gets underway in San Diego with a straight-sets win over Niemeier!#SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/tuz3ll6CS8
— wta (@WTA) February 29, 2024
“I haven’t played a tournament since the Australian Open, so I knew I was going to be a little nervous and some things were going to be weird,” said Pegula, now aligned with coaches Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein. “But I came out playing really well. I don’t think she was playing her best. She’s the type of player who can make some really good shots. She has a lot of power and is super crafty. I thought, if I gave her any chance, she was going to try to make a run at the end, which she did.” Marta Kostyuk continues to build on the form that saw the Ukrainian reach her first major quarterfinal last month at the Australian Open. The sixth seed knocked off the last remaining wildcard in 18-year-old Taylah Preston of Australia, 6-4, 6-3, in the opening match in Barnes Stadium.For Kostyuk, 21, it was almost like facing a mirror image of herself.“I was playing her for the very first time. She’s still very young. She reminds me a little bit of me,” said Kostyuk, who finished with 25 winners to 17 unforced errors, including nine doubles faults. “I knew I had to fight and grind. It was very close.” Preston, who notched her first tour-level main-draw singles win in the opening round (def. Magdalena Frech, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1), impressed with her natural power and clean groundstrokes. She has jumped from No. 819 to No. 153 in a matter of one year, and will reach yet another career-high when the updated WTA rankings are released on Monday.Australian qualifier Daria Saville saved a match point to overcome Germany’s Tatjana Maria in a dramatic three-hour, 14-minute marathon, 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, 30-40 in the second set, Saville hammered a crosscourt forehand winner to keep her hopes alive. She would eventually force a third set in a tiebreak.It was anything but a comfortable matchup for the 29-year-old baseliner.“There was no comfort ever, at all,” said Saville, who avenged a quarterfinal loss to Maria in Barranquilla in 2023. “I think I kind of experienced today, tonight, probably what I do to players. It was a fun match — only because I won in the end. But it was a tough battle.”The 47th-ranked Maria’s unconventional slice-and-dice game repeatedly left Saville scrambling for answers, but the 36-year-old managed to convert only six of her 23 break-point opportunities in taking the loss.“I needed two hours to adjust, three hours,” said Saville of facing her crafty veteran foe. “I think I’m going to have to readjust tomorrow, hitting with someone who hits with spin. I hit a lot of balls today. It’s going to be really important for me to do the right recovery and get ready for the next round.”It marked the fourth win of the week for Saville including the qualifying rounds.No. 2 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and Great Britain’s Katie Boulter also went the distance on Day 3 in San Diego, with the 49th-ranked Boulter pulling off a stunning 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset in two hours and 21 minutes. It marked only her fourth career win over a Top-20 opponent.The lefthander Haddad Maia was attempting to reach the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Tickets for the 2024 Cymbiotika San Diego Open are currently on sale. Ticket information is available on the official tournament website.
San Diego Open – Barnes Tennis Center$ 922,573February 26- March 3 2024Results – Wednesday, Feb 28QF – U. Eikeri (NOR) / H. Guo (CHN) d. [4] H. Chan (TPE) / G. Olmos (MEX) 61 26 10-5R16 – L. Marozava / K. Zimmermann (BEL) d. A. Moratelli (ITA) / C. Rosatello (ITA) 16 61 10-7R16 – [3] N. Melichar-Martinez (USA) / E. Perez (AUS) d. [ALT] D. Galfi (HUN) / M. Hontama (JPN) 61 75R16 – [2] S. Hunter (AUS) / K. Siniakova (CZE) d. M. Kolodziejova (CZE) / K. Piter (POL) 75 61R16 – [1] J. Pegula (USA) d. [Q] J. Niemeier (GER) 60 64R16 – [6] M. Kostyuk (UKR) d. [WC] T. Preston (AUS) 64 63R16 – [Q] D. Saville (AUS) d. T. Maria (GER) 57 76(2) 62R16 – K. Boulter (GBR) d. [2] B. Haddad Maia (BRA) 36 63 64Schedule – Thursday, Feb 29BARNES STADIUM starts at 11:30 AMA. Blinkova vs [5] D. Yastremska (UKR)[7] D. Vekic (CRO) vs [Q] M. Stakusic (CAN)NB 5:30 PM K. Siniakova (CZE) vs [3] E. Navarro (USA)[4] A. Pavlyuchenkova vs X. Wang (CHN)COURT 2 starts at 4:30 PM[1] D. Krawczyk (USA) / J. Pegula (USA) vs K. Day (USA) / C. Liu (USA)
