WASHINGTON: Defen­ding champion and top seed Jessica Pegula fought back to reach the WTA Charleston Open quarter-finals on Thurs­day, requiring a final-set tiebreak to see off Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(7/1).

A resilient Pegula, the world number five from the United States, eventually progressed just a day after laboring more than three hours to beat 72nd-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

The latest hard-fought win, clocking in at just over two hours, was revenge for Pegula, who was stunned by Coccia­retto at Wimb­ledon last year.

Cocciaretto, ranked 43rd in the world, dominated the first set.

Pegula’s serve was notably wayward, with the Am­e­r­ican winning just 25 per cent of first serve points.

“I don’t know what I was doing out there... Oh my gosh, that’s horrible,” said Pegula after.

Pegula rallied in the second set, but was immediately broken in a topsy-turvy final set, in which she trailed 1-4.

The American hauled it back to 4-4, but then found the net on a break point that would have given her the lead.

Two points from defeat at 4-5, Pegula fought back to 5-5 and they advanced into a deciding tiebreak.

Pegula drew first blood, going up 1-0 off Coccia­retto’s serve, then won every point on her own serve before Cocciaretto double-faulted to hand her the match.

“She beat me the last time we played, so there was a bit of a mental thing too, but I was able to serve really well, I think, at the end,” Pegula said. “And then I just held my nerve.”

Pegula, who won the title in Dubai in February, next faces Russia’s Diana Shnaider — a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

Swiss third seed Belinda Bencic also advanced, shrugging off a slow start to beat Czech Sara Bejlek 7-6(7/4), 6-2 and line up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seeded American Madison Keys. Keys beat Hungarian Anna Bondar 6-2, 7-5.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2026