WTA Finals: Jessica Pegula vs Aryna Sabalenka Match Preview and Prediction

By John


Swiatek got qualifications into the semis of the WTA Finals after beating Caroline Garcia in two straight sets yesterday.

Earlier today, Guaff lost against Daria Kasatkina in two straight sets, one via a tie-break and the other 6-3.

Jessica Pegula will be playing to stay in the finals when she face Aryna Sabalenka later  today.

Fottennis gives you the preview of this interesting matchup.

Aryna Sabalenka put up a great fight in the second set when she won four games in a row, but it was too little and too late to stop Maria Sakkari in their second round-robin match. She may have lost 6-2, 6-4 but could still make the semifinals by simply winning. the third match of her campaign.


It would be her sixth semifinal of the season and her third on the US soil (also Cincinnati and US Open). Her week could have gone a lot worse when she stood two points from defeat to Ons Jabeur on Monday before turning around 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 for her season's first top 10 win on hard courts.


She would prefer to dispel last year's memories when she ended her WTA Finals debut in Guadalajara in the group stages. While she remains in the top 10, it hasn't been a rosy 2022 for the Belarusian, who has failed to win multiple matches in 12 of 20 tournaments and is its double-fault leader.


Jessica Pegula is having an agonizing WTA Finals debut. After her 7-6, 7-6 loss to Maria Sakkari, she blew up a strong start against Ons Jabeur and lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Moreover, she has been eliminated from semifinal contention in doubles after losing her first two matches in match tiebreaks.


Her best hopes are to win this match in straight sets and then pray for a straight-set victory for Maria Sakkari later on Friday. To put this challenge in perspective, she holds a 2-11 record against top 10 players in completed matches this season, with both wins coming against Maria Sakkari.


This brutal start to the week does not do justice to her exemplary form all year long. She arrived in Fort Worth with 16 wins in her last five events, including a US Open quarterfinal and a maiden WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara. 36 of her 42 wins in 2022 came at WTA 1000 or Grand Slam levels.


Head-to-head: Aryna Sabalenka leads 3-1. Jessica Pegula won their first encounter at the 2020 W&S Open in New York in three set. The Belarusian fired back strongly and won their clay clashes in Paris in 2020, Madrid in 2021, and Rome in 2022 in straight sets, losing just 12 games combined.
 

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