Poland’s Magda Linette, the 31st seed, knocked out fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in third-round action of the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday in Mason, Ohio.
The match was carried over from Tuesday due to inclement weather in the area. They resumed Wednesday afternoon at the onset of the third set. Up 4-3 in the deciding set, Linette broke Pegula and then served out the match to advance to the Round of 16.
It was the first time Linette won, or even took a set, off Pegula in four career matches.
“It feels so good. I had so many tough matches on this court,” Linette said. “I lost so many three-setters. I never really got close to getting a set off her before. To me, it means so much.
“She’s such an unbelievable ball-striker and competitor. Unbelievable person off the court. I just feel this day is really special that I got the chance to beat her.”
Pegula, who advanced to her first Grand Slam final in last year’s U.S. Open, failed to advance beyond the Round of 32 in the National Bank Open in Montreal as well as the Cincinnati Open — the two lead-up events to this year’s U.S. Open that begins Aug. 24.
No. 9 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan highlighted the evening action by rallying for a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 6 Madison Keys. Her reward is a quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, as the reigning Cincinnati Open champion from Belarus converted five of seven break points to earn a 6-1, 7-5 win over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
In afternoon play, No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland coasted past Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 to become the first player to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals. Swiatek next will oppose No. 28 Anna Kalinskaya, who beat No. 12 Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in an all-Russian matchup late Wednesday night.
Veronika Kudermetova of Russia rallied to upset No. 16 Clara Tauson of Denmark 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Kudermetova didn’t face a break point and lost just three service points in the deciding third set to move into the fourth round against Linette.
–Field Level Media
