Top seed Jessica Pegula once again fought back from a set down to advance to the semifinals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Diana Schneider at the WTA Charleston Open on Friday.
Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three matches so far, but she dug deep again to keep her title defense hopes alive.
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The world No. 5 player from the United States defeated No. 19 Schneider in 2 hours and 10 minutes with a strong serve that included eight aces.
Schneider played well in the first two sets and broke early in the deciding set to lead 2-0, but then lost six straight games.
Pegula, who is chasing her second match win of the year after winning the title in Dubai in February, will face fourth-seeded American Eva Jovich, who defeated Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4.
Despite a first-round bye, Pegula has played nine sets so far and logged more than seven hours of court time. This year, she has won nine of 10 matches that have gone to final sets.
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On the other side of the draw, fifth-seeded American Madison Keys clinched a spot in the semifinals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic in a battle of former Charleston champions.
Keys returned to defeat 2022 champion Bencic and returned to the semifinals for the first time since winning the championship in 2019.
Keys reached the WTA semifinals for the first time this year and will face Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva for a spot in the final. Starodubtseva defeated American McCartney Kessler 6-4, 6-4.
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