Pegula Beats Kenin, Captures All-American Charleston Open Final

Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula (photo: Charleston Tennis LLC)

CHARLESTON, S.C./WASHINGTON, April 7, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

It’s been 35 years since the last all-American final at the Credit One Charleston Open in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The previous one, in 1990, involved Martina Navratilova and Jennifer Capriati and it came when the tournament, then known as the Family Circle Cup, took place at its former location, at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island, about 100 miles south down U.S. Highway 17.

Sunday afternoon at Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island, World No. 4 and top seed Jessica Pegula and her opponent, unseeded and 44th-ranked Sofia Kenin – once ranked as high as World No. 4 like Pegula is now – both from the United States, faced off in North America’s largest women’s-only tennis event and the only clay-court event in the U.S. It was won by Pegula, 6-3 7-5, who claimed her first WTA Tour clay-court title.

Let’s hope it’s not another 35 years until the next all-American final.

Pegula came from 1-5 down in the second set to make it a straight-set triumph over Kenin after it looked certain that the final was going to go to a decider.

“Tough match today,” Pegula said during her champion’s news conference. “Glad I was able to finish it off in straight sets than having to go three.”

Just like Navratilova, 33, did when she defeated the 14-year-old Capriati, 6-2, 6-4 to win her 150th professional singles title – before either of Sunday’s finalists were born – Pegula (31) and Kenin (26) produced compelling tennis throughout their one-hour, 26-minute title match that was played under sunny but blustery conditions and a temperature that reached 77º Fahrenheit.

“Really tough conditions with the wind and everything,” Pegula admitted. “It was a little streaky, I feel like, from both of us at times, but that’s how it’s going to be when it’s tough conditions and you’re in a final and there’s a lot of nerves and stuff like that.

“So happy to come away with the trophy and the title.”

Pegula, who en route to the Charleston title defeated qualifier Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus, Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, No. 7 seed Danielle Collins of the United States and No. 9 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia just a week after finishing runner-up in Miami, completed the victory over Kenin with 19 winners – including three aces – converted seven of 17 break points and outpointed Kenin 75-61. Kenin countered with 28 winners but committed a whopping 48 unforced errors. Although she broke Pegula four times in eight attempts, it wasn’t enough in the end – and Pegula won her second WTA Tour title of the season following her earlier success in Austin, Texas in February. It was her eighth WTA crown overall.

“I think my perseverance won me a lot of matches this week,” Pegula said. “I think, especially on the clay, I feel like you have to have kind of that grittiness and that toughness, because the serve isn’t as effective. There’s not as many free points, and I think winning a couple of tough points or a tough game can kind of turn the momentum of a set or a match, and I felt like I was able to do that multiple times this week.”

Before Sunday, Pegula and Kenin had faced each other on five occasions, with Pegula winning three of five in their head-to-head competition. Their most recent match, at the at the US Open last year, produced a second-round win for Pegula, 7-6 (4), 6-3. However, like Pegula’s semifinal opponent, Alexandrova, who took the top-seeded American to three sets, Kenin proved to be another really tough matchup for the Buffalo, N.Y. native.

“She hits that flat ball, can take it really early, use your pace,” Pegula said on Saturday. “I know she hasn’t been at her top level for a little while, but we all know she can still play like that when she wants to, and clearly this week she’s been playing really well. I think it’s going to be another one where I’m going to have to try and use some variety, try and mix it up a little bit when I need to, but still try and go after my shots and play my game.”

During a quick-paced 33-minute opening set, Pegula took advantage of 23 unforced errors by Kenin and broke her serve three times in nine opportunities. Pegula won 85 percent of her first-serve points and hit eight winners while only making eight unforced errors.

Then, Pegula pulled through an eight-and-a-half minute, 16-point, 5-deuce second game and won it on her fourth break-point chance to level the score 1-all after being broken in the opening game of the second set. However, Kenin broke back for 2-1 and consolidated the break for 3-1 – and it was game on.

Kenin seemed the fresher player – her easy power was working well for her – while Pegula was starting to show some fatigue. Kenin broke for the third straight time to take a 4-1 lead. She had solved the Pegula riddle and was playing on the front foot. Quickly, Kenin consolidated another break for a 5-1 advantage. However, out of nowhere, Pegula rallied to win four straight games with a pair of holds and a pair of breaks of Kenin’s serve – saving three set points along the way – and, suddenly, it was 5-all. The momentum clearly was now Pegula’s favor.

Pegula backed up the second break with a hold at love and took a 6-5 lead with her fifth straight winning game – and, all of a sudden, the finish line was coming into focus for her after 87 minutes.

With Kenin serving to try to get to set to a tie-break, she had lost her composure and Pegula very quickly had 0-40 match point. Kenin double faulted on championship point and the win and title were Pegula’s – and, with it, she equaled her career-high ranking of World No. 3 and became the new American No. 1, exchanging places with Coco Gauff, who dropped to World No. 4 and American No. 2.

Pegula won the last six games of the match and the final 12 points of the title final for her WTA Tour-leading 25th victory of the 2025 season. She has won 17 of her last 19 matches on tour.

“It doesn’t always happen every single week, but when you’re able to do it and take home the title, I think you look back at those moments,” Pegula said. “Pivotal moments are really important in the match. So happy with what I was able to do this week and turning around matches and sets.”

As a consolation, Kenin, who began the season ranked 81st, will climb to No. 34 in the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday after going 5-1 in Charleston, including wins over Bernarda Pera of the United States, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, No. 5 seed Daria Kasatkina of Australia, No. 14 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States.

“I want to congratulate Jess on a great match,” Kenin said during the trophy presentation. “You’ve been playing great throughout the year. Congrats to you and your team, it was a great match. … I’ve absolutely enjoyed my time here; I love this tournament so much. It really feels like home, and I can’t wait to be back next year.”

Prior to the final, Kenin said: “This year, I’ve tried to just set small goals to climb up the ranks. At the start of the year, the goal was to be seeded at French Open.” As the WTA Tour now shifts to red clay in Europe, Kenin said it “is going to be good swing” for me. I’m very excited for it to be honest.”

Ostapenko and Routliffe win first doubles title as a team

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe began the week as an ad-hoc doubles team, having never played together although they’ve faced each other with other partners – Ostapenko with Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei and Routliffe with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada. On Sunday, the first-time partnership of the Latvian/Kiwi duo produced dividends . They won a WTA 500 title.

World No. 4 Ostapenko and World No. 3 Routliffe defeated Americans Caroline Dolehide (ranked 21st) and Desirae Krawczyk (ranked 15th), 6-4, 6-2, in an hour and 20 minutes. It was Ostapenko’s third career WTA 500 doubles title and also the third for Routliffe.

Throughout, there was plenty of “cat and mouse” tennis – plenty of great rallies and court coverage from both sides. Both teams were in a good rhythm. By the conclusion, Ostapenko and Routliffe, who saved four of five break points and broke their opponents four times in four opportunities, were the better team. They outpointed Dolehide and Krawczyk 55-45.

Ostapenko improved her doubles win-loss record to 20-8 this season and it was her second title in 2025 after winning Abu Dhabi with Ellen Perez of Australia. Routliffe is 10-6 in 2025 and Charleston was her first doubles title of the season.

Afterward, during their champion’s news conference, Ostapenko called it an amazing week, “especially for us playing only the first time. I think we played better and better every match. Thanks, Erin, for playing with me. It was a great week, and in general, I think this tournament is one of the best tournaments. I really enjoyed coming here.”

Routliffe added: “We’re really happy, obviously. We played a lot of good teams, and like Jelena said, we got better every single match. So, we’re really happy about it. It’s awesome. So many people watch doubles here, and we love it in Charleston, and we love this tournament. So, we’ll definitely come back next year.”

Around the Credit One Charleston Open

During an interview on Tennis Channel Sunday afternoon, Credit One Charleston Open tournament owner Ben Navarro, whose daughter World No. 11 Emma Navarro was a quarterfinalist, announced that title sponsor Credit One has extended its agreement to be title sponsor of the Credit One Charleston Open for five additional years, through 2031.

With this new commitment, the Credit One Charleston Open is proud to provide equal prize money to its players that is the equivalent to ATP 500-level events. “This historic milestone reflects Credit One’s ongoing commitment to gender equality in sports and further solidifies Charleston’s role as a leader on the Hologic WTA Tour,” the tournament said in a statement.

With this move, the Credit One Charleston Open – North America’s largest women’s-only professional tennis tournament – becomes the first stand-alone WTA 500 tournament to voluntarily increase its prize money prior to the 2033 deadline for all single-week WTA 1000 and 500 events to reward equal prize money.

“At the Credit One Charleston Open, we believe in fostering an environment where all athletes are recognized and rewarded for their talent and dedication,” Navarro said, in a statement. “Providing equal prize money in 2026 is a significant step forward toward creating a more inclusive and equitable future for tennis. We are proud to take this action as part of our ongoing commitment to support fairness in sports and lead by example for the next generation.”

The prize money for this year’s Credit One Charleston Open has been $1,064,510. The exact purse for the 2026 event will be finalized once the official prize money figures for the 2026 season are released.

“The Credit One Charleston Open has always been at the forefront of promoting women in sports, and we’re incredibly proud of our legacy,” Navarro said. “We’ve broken attendance records year after year, drawing more than 90,000 attendees and 26 million international television viewers. As North America’s largest women’s-only tennis tournament and one of the longest-running women’s-only events in professional sports, we’re not just celebrating the past, we’re actively shaping the future.”

By the numbers

The Credit One Charleston Open was the fourth final this year for Jessica Pegula, who was runner-up at Adelaide and Miami and won the title at Austin. By tying career-best ranking of World No. 3, Pegula surpasses Coco Gauff to become the American No. 1. She’s also one of nine current WTA Top 50 players to have won titles on clay, grass and hard courts.

“Quotable …”

“Every week is so tough. Like it’s not easy out here at all. Every girl is fighting and competing, and everyone’s on kind of their own journey and their own pathway, and you never really know what you’re facing across the other side of the net.

“So, of course, I felt bad for [Sofia]. I mean, I think, thought, at the end of the day, she’s played some really good tennis this week. She’s beaten a lot of really good players, and obviously, she’s a Grand Slam champion. So, everyone knows she can play at that top level, and I think this week she showed she can maybe get some of that consistency back in her game.”

– Jessica Pegula on Sofia Kenin, from her champion’s news conference on Sunday, after winning her first Credit One Charleston Open title.

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