Recap: Semifinal Saturday

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula passed her first real test at the ATX Open on Saturday, going three sets to defeat wild card Ajla Tomljanović of Australia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, to reach her 16th career final. She will face fifth-seeded fellow American McCartney Kessler, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Greet Minnen of Belgium in the second semifinal.

The last All-American final at a WTA Tour-level event was in Adelaide, Australia, in January, when Madison Keys defeated Pegula, and the last All-American final at a WTA U.S. tournament was the 2017 US Open, when Sloane Stephens defeated Keys.

Kessler won her second WTA career title in Hobart, Australia, earlier this year, which contributed to her rapid rise into the WTA top 50.

Pegula, 31, ranked fourth on the Hologic WTA Tour, had not lost more than three games in a set in Austin before facing Tomljanović in the semifinal. Tomljanović, ranked World No. 111, is projected to move up to World No. 93 after her Austin run, as she rejoins the tour following time lost to injuries and illness.

Pegula broke Tomljanovic’s serve to open the match, which usually led to her winning 6-1 sets like the one she won on Saturday. The difference in the semifinal was the players – including Pegula – faced break points in six of the seven games. Even though her own serve was under duress, Pegula was broken only once while scoring four breaks against Tomljanović, who served seven untimely double faults. In the second set, the 31-year-old Tomljanović, once ranked as high as No. 32, cleaned up her serve while remaining aggressive from the ground. Pegula, broken twice in the second set, looked visibly frustrated as her groundstrokes betrayed her. Pegula got off to another strong start at the start of the third set, and despite being broken in the third game, was in control the rest of the match.

Pegula said the key for her in the third set was taking care of her serve.

“I think we were a little kind of hit or miss with our serving for whatever reason – it was pretty hot outside,” she said in her post-match interview on Center Court. “I felt like the ball was kind of flying, so I’m not sure if that had something to do with it. But I felt once I started serving just a little bit more consistent, smarter, then I got out to that quick jump in the third, which I think was big.”

Kessler, who defeated Coco Gauff in Dubai last week, and Minnen struggled to hold serve in their first set, with five breaks in total. Minnen, a 27-year-old Belgian ranked World No. 92, had previously played with precision and power to reach her first semifinal in three years. But she was broken after serving three double faults in the opening game. The second time Kessler served for the set, she hit a running backhand passing shot that was the highlight of the set and possibly the match.

Kessler broke Minnen to start the second, but the Belgian showed fight in tying the score. She had a chance to lead 5-4 on serve but ultimately another sprayed groundstroke cost her the game and eventually the match.

“I don’t think I was playing my best offensive tennis as I’m capable of,” Kessler said after the match, “so I had to kind of use my legs more and play some defense, which is a little out of my comfort zone, but I was able to do it well enough.”

Kessler also did well enough to reach the doubles final with Zhang Shuai, defeating Isabelle Haverlag and Alicja Rosolka, 7-5, 6-2, Saturday night. They will face Anna Blinkova and Yuan Yue in Sunday’s championship match – after her singles final.