Jessica Pegula beat Marta Kostyuk 6–2, 7–5 on November 10 in Indian Wells to stay in contention at the WTA Finals. The result eliminated Kostyuk from semifinal contention.
Two sets, two different tests
Pegula swept the opening nine points. The WTA counted 17 unforced errors for Kostyuk and three for Pegula in the first set. That early gap gave Pegula room to control the pace before the second set tightened.
Kostyuk stayed in the second set long enough to hold for 5–4. The decisive break came two games later when she double-faulted, giving Pegula the chance to serve out the match. Nine double faults across the match mattered most when one ended a service game that could have sent the set toward a tiebreak.
What comes next
Pegula faces Linda Nosková in her final group match on Thursday. The win over Kostyuk kept Pegula in the race, with the remaining group results still to determine the semifinal lineup.
Source: WTA match report.
Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2023 (archive). Photo: Vision360media / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and resized.
.jpg){kind=link}