CHARLESTON, S.C./WASHINGTON, April 7, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Yuliia Starodubtseva may not have played her best tennis when she lost the title match of the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open to World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, 6-2, 6-2, Sunday afternoon. However, even in defeat, the one-hour, 22-minute final contested on the grainy green clay was her most important match.
That’s because the 26-year-old from Ukraine, who has not been back to her war-torn home country for four years during Russia’s invasion, reached the final of a WTA Tour event for the first time. By the end of the day, Starodubtseva had earned the biggest paycheck of her career totaling $218,225. It was part of the tournament’s pledge to offer equal prize money of an ATP 500 – and it easily surpassed her total 2026 earnings before Sunday.
“It’s been a lot around me, for the first time,” Starodubtseva said during her post-match news conference, where she admitted she hadn’t slept much in three days.
Congratulations to Yuliia Starodubtseva on a wonderful run to her first final 👏 pic.twitter.com/cn7QsLs67J
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 5, 2026
In the run-up to Sunday’s final against Pegula, Starodubtseva upset another American, No. 53 McCartney Kessler in Friday evening’s quarterfinals, then garnered the biggest win of her pro career with her upset of World No. 15 Madison Keys of the United States.
“I haven’t checked any of the prize money on purpose, I never do. But it definitely will help me in a way to feel free,” Starodubtseva admitted Sunday.
The 5-foot-6-inch tall Starodubtseva’s journey to the Charleston Open final became a hot topic by the final weekend of North America’s largest women’s-only tennis tournament, which annually kicks off the WTA Tour’s clay season in the South Carolina Lowcountry. She played college tennis in the United States at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., from 2017-22, where – ironically – Kessler handed Starodubtseva her only defeat during her senior season, before graduating and taking a part-time coaching position at a country club in Westchester, N.Y.
Then, Starodubtseva’s friends raised money on a GoFundMe to help her defray the cost of entry fees into small UTR tournaments early in her pro career, at a time that she didn’t have a sufficient ranking to even enter ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments, which are the third tier of professional tennis.
Eventually, Starodubtseva won her first ITF $60K title in June 2023 and competed in her first WTA Tour quarterfinal in 2024. The same year, she also achieved the milestone of qualifying for all four Grand Slams in a single season.
“I can’t really describe my feelings right now,” she told Tennis Channel, moments after upsetting the 2019 Charleston Open champion Keys on Saturday, struggling to keep from laughing too hard. It was Starodubtseva’s 23rd career tour-level victory and seventh of this season. “Honestly, suddenly, I may not have accepted this outcome, this tournament, but you know, hard work pays off!”
Soaking it all in 😊 pic.twitter.com/yaqNu3I5lR
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 4, 2026
Starodubtseva’s run to the title match was proof that anything can happen over the course of a week-long tournament. After all, she was all set to be the No. 1 seed in the qualifying draw, but a late withdrawal elevated her into the 48-player main draw. Each of her final three matches were played on Credit One Stadium, with a seating capacity of about 11,000, and in front of some of the biggest crowds she’s ever competed before. Earlier in the week, Starodubtseva played the first three rounds of the tournament on much smaller outer courts.
Looking back, while it was predictable that Pegula would be successful in defending her Charleston Open title, after capturing 10 straight games at one point in the final, it was very unpredictable that Starodubtseva would enjoy the best week of her professional tennis career. It prompted the champion Pegula to praise her opponent during the trophy ceremony.
“You know if anyone doesn’t know she has an amazing story,” Pegula said. “So, I encourage you guys to get to know her a little bit more and continue cheering her on.”
Starodubtseva’s surprise 6-1, 6-4 semifinal victory in an hour and 13 minutes over the fifth-seeded Keys – the biggest win of her career – generated a lot of buzz around the Credit One Stadium and on the grounds of LTP Daniel Island on Saturday.
Against Keys, Starodubtseva owned the match – her first semifinal she had played on the WTA Tour – from first ball to last ball en route to her victory. She broke the American No. 5’s serve four times in the opening set, then once more in the second. Soon, she garnered her 23rd career win at tour-level – and third victory over a Top 20 opponent. Her win over Keys prevented an all-American final.
Sealed with a signature 💗 pic.twitter.com/PfEHqhxAfs
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 4, 2026
Afterward, during her on-court interview, Starodubtseva, a native of Kakhovka, a port city on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine, showed her appreciation to the crowd. “I mean, thank you so much for supporting me,” she said. “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.”
All weekend, Starodubtseva didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she did a little bit of both.
“Honestly, I feel very lucky to be here,” Starodubtseva continued in her Tennis Channel interview on Saturday. “When I started my journey, I wasn’t known very much, but I thank everybody, especially back in New York. I played some UTR [events] because my ranking wasn’t good enough to get into ITF [tournaments] and I had no national or international ranking. It was hard. I had to earn a wild card just to be able to play [ITF] W35Ks in the U.S. It went kind of well from there.”
Sending love back home 💟#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/ucVexGhtS2
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 4, 2026
During her final news conference, following the title match Sunday, Starodubtseva was asked what she learned about herself as a competitor. “I feel like I changed up a bit my play[ing] style and kind of like realized what type of player I actually am,” she said. “And I think I’ll try and build from there on.
“I definitely played more aggressive tennis … and I think it’s in my nature. Maybe, I haven’t been letting myself do it in previous weeks. Maybe, I tried to do other stuff rather than just keeping it simple and be aggressive in certain moments. I think this was the biggest lesson.”
Starodubtseva, who began the week ranked 89th and finished it with a career-best ranking of No. 53, said she looks forward to the opportunity to invest more in her career.
“I feel like I always did a good job with it,” she said of her humble earnings before Sunday. “I never really saved up on my body or my coach. I always to spend as much as I could with all the money that I had, but now I feel better about it.”
After taking a few weeks off to rest and recover – and to move from Berlin, Germany to Barcelona, Spain – Starodubtseva plans to return in time for the WTA 1000 Madrid Open, where she reached the fourth round last year as a qualifier.
“I feel like I deserve a little break. You want to take some breaks, and like the more you obviously lose, the more weeks you need to play,” Starodubtseva said. “So, I find it like a reward in a way that I can take some weeks for myself. I’m also moving places. I have a lot to do, and going to take some days off tennis as well.”
A fabulous week in Charleston 🔅 pic.twitter.com/LFpVjwzBHj
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 5, 2026
