The Czech Barbora Krejcikova, only 13th in the world but qualified for the benefit of her Grand Slam title this year at Wimbledon, largely dominated the American Jessica Pegula (N.6), whom she beat 6-3, 6-3 in a little over an hour Tuesday in Riyadh at the WTA Masters. After this second defeat in two matches, Pegula is already eliminated from the race for the semi-finals.
However, it was she, opening the hostilities with a shutout, who took the upper hand at the start of the match. But at 3-3, the balance of power is reversed. Pegula then conceded the first two break points of the set, and Krejcikova took the American’s service on the second thanks to a backhand into her opponent’s net. Krejcikova confirms this break and obtains three set points at 5-3 on Pegula’s serve. The second will be the good one for the Czech, who returns to the feet of Pegula whose drop shot ends in the net: 6-3, in less than half an hour.
In the second set, Pegula, committing two double faults and two unforced errors on the backhand, conceded her service for the third time in a row to be led 2-0. The American, after losing six games in a row, then stopped the bleeding by breaking immediately, with a backhand suddenly found. But Pegula, fearing his opponent’s returns, immediately lost his serve again by committing two new double faults. Krejcikova, who had already taken a set from Swiatek on Sunday, confirmed this break and headed towards victory in two sets in a game which lasted only 69 minutes.
In the wake of this match, where the Czech often got the upper hand over the American with the power and depth of her shots, the Polish Iga Swiatek (world No.2) will be opposed in the second singles of this second day of the American Orange group Coco Gauff (N.3).
To hope to recover her throne recently abandoned to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the Pole must win this end-of-season tournament.
Masters without audience
Organized for the very first time in history in Saudi Arabia, the WTA Masters does not attract crowds. If the WTA highlights the statements of certain players like Aryna Sabalenka, who assures after her first match that “the atmosphere is great” after her first match, the reality of the images is very different.
The Telegraph shares a video in which we can see almost empty stands during the second day of competition, with just around a hundred people present in a stadium supposed to accommodate many more.
Sad when we know that these WTA Masters are the opportunity to see the eight best players of the season play. Even sadder when we know that Riyadh will be the host city of the WTA Finals until 2026.
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