Pegula saves match point to beat Noskova and reach WTA Finals semi-finals as Gauff goes out

Jessica Pegula of the United States saved a match point to beat Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-5 on Thursday, 12 November, and reach the semi-finals of the WTA Finals, the season-ending women’s tournament. The match finished overnight into Friday Riga time. It lasted two hours and 45 minutes, and Noskova was one point from victory before a forehand error on match point in the third set.

This year’s tournament is being held at Indian Wells in the United States. Pegula served a career-high 16 aces, while Noskova hit 46 winners to Pegula’s 35 and made 15 double faults, according to WTA statistics. It was Pegula’s ninth win of the season over a top-10 player, and her third semi-final in five appearances at the event.

Gauff wins but goes out

Earlier that day Coco Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 7-5 in her last group match, despite trailing 5-1 in the second set and taking a medical timeout for her back. “It started a little bit in my last match, but it’s not like pain. It’s just blocked a little bit,” Gauff said afterwards.

The win was not enough. Gauff, Pegula and Noskova all finished with two wins, so the places were decided on sets: Noskova 5-2, Pegula 5-3 and Gauff 4-3. Noskova had already booked her semi-final place with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Gauff in the previous round.

Semi-finals on Saturday

On Saturday Pegula will play Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, the winner of the other group, for the first time in her career. Noskova will face the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.