Pegula saves three match points to defeat Raducanu at China Open
No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula staged a dramatic comeback at the China Open, saving three match points in a tense second-set tiebreak before defeating No. 30 seed Emma Raducanu 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-0 in two hours and 21 minutes to book her place in the fourth round.
The result marks the first time Pegula has won from match point down since the 2024 Berlin final, in which she staved off five championship points to defeat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7(0), 6-4, 7-6(3), News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
In her very next match, she lost from match point up to Raducanu 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-5 in the Eastbourne second round. Having turned the tables on the Briton, Pegula now leads their head-to-head 3-1.
It is the second time in as many weeks that Raducanu has lost from three match points up, and via an overtime second-set tiebreak, to a former Top 3 opponent. In the Seoul second round, she squandered a 5-2 second-set lead to fall to Barbora Krejcikova 4-6, 7-6(10), 6-1. Raducanu led 5-2 in both tiebreaks.
"That was a crazy match," Pegula said in her on-court interview. "That was really intense. But I got myself back into the tiebreak and just wanted keep pressure on. When she hit the double fault [leading 5-4], I knew I was still playing some good tennis. It was right there, it was really, really close. And to be honest, I think I got a little lucky on those two backhand winners [both down match point]. But I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could."
Pegula advances to the Beijing last 16 for a second straight year, and will face Marta Kostyuk there after The No. 23 seed defeated qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich
6-4, 6-2. Pegula leads their head-to-head 3-1, including a 6-2, 6-3 victory in their most recent meeting in the Miami fourth round this March.
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