Top-seeded Jessica Pegula never faced a break point in her 6-1, 6-3 victory over Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain in the second round of the ATX Open on Wednesday. Pegula, ranked World No. 4 on the Hologic WTA Tour, dominated the first set, breaking the 33-year-old Parrizas Diaz for 2-0 and 5-1 leads and winning in 21 minutes. Pegula broke for a 2-1 lead in the second set and closed out the match by breaking her opponent at 5-3 for a spot in the Austin quarterfinals.
Pegula noted in her post-match interview the difference in playing styles between her first and second-round opponents. While World No. 107 Parrizas Diaz hits flat, Pegula’s opponent on Monday, Arantxa Rus, is a left-handed baseliner who plays with spin.
“Everyone plays different,” Pegula said, “but those two definitely were kind of a total opposite.”
“I’m glad I just got off to a really good start,” she continued, adding that she liked how she began the second set “with the early break and kind of stayed in some of those long games on the return and took care of my serve really well.” She won 90 percent of her first-serve points.
Pegula faces Anna Blinkova next, who handled the slice and dice game of Tatjana Maria, 6-2, 6-2. Blinkova, ranked No. 74, upset Pegula in the second round of Indian Wells, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, last year.
“It’s interesting because we played at the exact same time last year,” said Pegula, who holds a 3-1 lead in their head-to-head. “I beat her in San Diego then lost to her in Indian Wells, so it’s kind of funny that we’re coming back a year later.”
Pegula praised Blinkova’s tenacity.
“She’s always super tough,” she said. “She can have some really good wins. I feel like she plays well against top players as well. An amazing competitor – the one thing that is the toughest to play her is that her attitude is amazing. No matter what the score is, she’s never going to go away. And that can be kinda frustrating for the other side.”
“I’m interested in maybe getting some revenge,” Pegula said with a smile, “and hopefully I can turn it around.”
Tomljanovic Pulls Away
Wild card Ajla Tomljanovic held her nerve when it counted the most, rallying past Jodie Burrage, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, in the last day session match on Center Court. After being sidelined with injuries, both players are trying to regain traction on the Hologic WTA Tour. Burrage, a Brit ranked No. 189, started this match with the momentum that propelled her past Petra Kvitova in three sets in the opening round. Tomljanovic, the 31-year-old Australian, just tried to steady herself.
“She made me really uncomfortable and I just tried to hang in there,” Tomljanovic said.
Breaking to lead 3-1 in the second set was key.
“Once I got that first break, it made me feel ‘Like, OK, I’m a little more settled in.” She saved two breaks in the next game and was “really proud of how I stayed in games today even when I was down.”
Tomljanovic, once ranked as high as No. 32, pointed out the benefits of advancing to the later stages of an event. Joking with the crowd, she said: “Whenever I get to the quarters, I’m just really happy that the less people that you see in the players’ room, the better, because you’re further in the tournament.”
Burrage and Anna Bondar later pulled out of their doubles match against Madeleine Brooks and Eden Silva, which had been scheduled as the evening session’s last match due to a shoulder injury Burrage incurred during her singles match.
Blinkova Handles Maria’s Spins
Anna Blinkova said her straight-set victory over Tatjana Maria on Wednesday wasn’t as easy as the score indicated.
“It was 6-2, 6-2, but it was a very tough match,” the 26-year-old said after playing 1 hour 17 minutes. “She was pushing me. It was tough physically and mentally.” Blinkova, who tried to remain aggressive, was also helped by winning 66 percent of the points on Maria’s first serve.
Maria, a 37-year-old German with a one-handed backhand, slices most of her groundstrokes on both sides, a tactic that is more effective on grass than the ATX Open hard courts. While she has 23 lower-tier career titles on all surfaces, her best result at the majors is a 2022 semifinal appearance in Wimbledon.
Blinkova, ranked World No. 74, hasn’t gotten past the third round of a major but has won six smaller hardcourt titles. She now faces Jessica Pegula, whom she defeated in the second round of Indian Wells, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, last year.
But after completing the first match on Center Court, she said she wouldn’t think about the next round until later that night. She planned to spend the rest of the afternoon playing “Call of Duty.”
Kessler’s Victory Completes First Round
Fifth-seeded American McCartney Kessler wrapped up the first round with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over “lucky loser” Viktorija Golubic on the Grandstand Court. Kessler, a 25-year-old American ranked World No. 56, dominated the first set against the 104th-ranked Swiss player, who also possesses a one-handed backhand. The two traded breaks early in the second set. Golubic served for the second set at 5-3, but Kessler broke back and didn’t lose another game. Kessler, a three-time All American at the University of Florida, faces Cristina Bucsa, a Spaniard ranked No. 99, next.
Shibahara Sets Career Milesetone
Qualifier Ena Shibahara of Japan cried tears of joy after defeating Kimberly Birrell of Australia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the second round because the victory propelled her into a WTA singles quarterfinal for the first time in her career. Shibahara, 27, was raised in California and fulfilled a promise to her grandparents to play for Japan in the delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics. She has been ranked as high as No. 4 in doubles but decided to concentrate in singles in 2024, where she is currently ranked No. 148. That decision has paid off at the ATX Open. In the third set, Shibahara saved a break point to even the score at 4-4, then broke the 76th-ranked Birrell and served out the match.
Pegula’s Favorite Nickname Is Picture Perfect
Kondo Simfukwe, ATX Open’s on-court announcer extraordinaire, on Tuesday asked Pegula a question that tennis fans are dying to know: “Jessica, Jessie, J.Peg, Jess,” he said after her straight-set victory on Center Court. “What’s your actual preferred nickname?”
I don’t know,” she replied with a smile. “My name is Jess, but everyone usually calls me Jessie or Jess. When I was younger, my nickname always used to be JP. Then as I’ve gotten older, now fans have adopted J.Peg, like the file.”
She said that she thinks that during the Doha tournament, someone held up a sign that read: “J.Peg, no glitches.”
“I thought that was pretty good,” she said. “I’m so upset I didn’t get a picture with him. So I think the fans had kind of just adopted that one for now.”
