Mirra Andreeva Beats Jessica Pegula to Reach WTA Finals Championship
Jessica Pegula's WTA Finals run ended in the semifinals at Indian Wells, where Mirra Andreeva won 6-3, 6-4 despite trailing 3-1 in the second set. Andreeva, still without a dropped set, will play Linda Noskova or Elina Svitolina in Sunday's final.
American Jessica Pegula lost to Russia's Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, California, on Saturday, November 14. Andreeva, 19, reached the championship match in her tournament debut without dropping a set.
Pegula, the fifth seed, led 3-1 in the second set. Andreeva then won five of the last six games to close it out.
Andreeva will play the winner of the second semifinal between Linda Noskova and Elina Svitolina in Sunday's final. The championship matches will be simulcast free on Tennis Channel 2 in the US and Canada.
Andreeva will rise to No 2 in the WTA rankings on Monday whatever happens in the final. She has conceded just 18 games in four matches this week. That includes a 6-4, 6-0 win over top seed Aryna Sabalenka, in which she won 11 games in a row from 1-4 down.
Wind and errors
Heavy winds made it hard for both players to find rhythm with their serves and groundstrokes. Andreeva took time to adjust and double-faulted to fall behind 2-1 in the first set. She then took control, saving a break point at 5-3 to win the opening set.
She defended well against Pegula's first strike and stepped inside the baseline at the right moments. She also fired down 120mph service winners in key games. Pegula had relied on her mental toughness for much of the week and was too erratic here.
Andreeva has history in her sights. A title would make her the ninth teenager to win the WTA Finals, and the first in more than 20 years.
Pegula's route to the last four
Pegula reached the semifinals on Thursday by beating Noskova 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 7-5. She saved a match point at 5-4 in the third set and hit 16 aces, her most in a WTA Tour match. The win came at the expense of Coco Gauff, who also won that day but missed the last four.
The pairing with Andreeva carried extra interest. Before the tournament began, private comments Pegula made to her coach after a practice session were live-streamed. She called Andreeva a "diva"; Pegula apologized, and the Women's Tennis Association chair also apologized to her.
After beating Noskova, Pegula said of the meeting with Andreeva: "It's the match people wanted, well now you are going to get it."
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