Jessica Pegula revived her campaign at the season-ending WTA Finals on Tuesday, November 10, dispatching Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in straight sets to maintain her path toward the semi-finals. According to The Guardian, the American won 6-2, 7-5 after suffering an opening defeat to Coco Gauff on Sunday at Indian Wells.
The victory marked Pegula's 51st Tour-level win of 2026, according to the WTA's official account. Pegula can now advance to the semi-finals with a victory over Czech eighth seed Linda Noskova in her final group match, while Kostyuk's tournament run has ended following this defeat.
Kostyuk had entered the tournament as a late replacement after world No. 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew because of illness. The Finals operate using two groups of four competitors in a round-robin format, with the top two players in each group advancing to the semi-finals.
Pegula dominated the opening set, breaking Kostyuk in the first and seventh games to claim it 6-2. The second set proved far more competitive, beginning with four consecutive service breaks before Kostyuk established a 3-2 advantage.
Kostyuk earned a break point opportunity in the following game but failed to convert it as Pegula held for 3-3. The next four games proceeded without a break of serve, but Pegula seized the decisive break in the 11th game. She converted her fourth break point to reach 6-5 before holding serve to secure the match when Kostyuk's forehand sailed long.
After her opening loss to Gauff, Pegula reflected on the challenge of facing her American rival.
I feel like I'm playing well. I felt my match against Coco was a super high-level match and that was a great match today. It's so tricky with her because you just don't know what's gonna come – she will just step in and inject pace, she'll come and kamikaze the net, she goes for returns or her serve can get hot. That's what makes it difficult to play her.
What happens next?
Pegula's final group match against Noskova is scheduled for Thursday, November 12, with the semi-finals set for Saturday, November 14, and the championship final on Sunday, November 15.
