Pegula battles back to deliver Kenin a crushing loss in Charleston final

Playing her second final in just eight days—after falling to Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open—Jessica Pegula staged a dramatic comeback to defeat Sofia Kenin and claim her first Credit One Charleston Open title in straight sets, 6-3 7-5.

The top-seeded Pegula started strong, breaking Kenin in the opening game and quickly building a 2-0 lead. She even held two break points to go up 3-0, but Kenin rallied with three consecutive games to turn the momentum. However, that surge would prove short-lived. Pegula quickly regained control, winning the next four games and wrapping up the first set with two more breaks.

The second set saw a flurry of breaks at the outset, with Kenin—2020 Australian Open champion—taking charge and storming to a 5-1 lead. Pegula, facing three set points, showed incredible resilience. She saved them all, held serve, and broke Kenin to begin a thrilling comeback. What followed was a display of grit and experience as Pegula reeled off six consecutive games to close out the match.

This marks Pegula’s eighth career WTA title and her first in Charleston. It was a breakthrough moment in the South Carolina event for the American, who had reached the semifinals in each of the past two years—losing to Belinda Bencic in 2023 and Daria Kasatkina in 2024—before finally lifting the trophy this year.

Pegula’s path to the title included a second-round demolition of qualifier Iryna Shymanovich, where she lost just three games. She then defeated Ajla Tomljanovic and seventh seed Danielle Collins, before outlasting ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in a grueling, two-hour-plus semifinal that featured 13 breaks of serve. That 6-2 2-6 7-5 victory marked the American’s first-ever semifinal win in Charleston and set the stage for her final showdown against Kenin, who was the only unseeded player to reach the quarterfinals and showed flashes of her Grand Slam-winning form throughout the week.

With this victory, Pegula will return to her career-high ranking of No. 3, surpassing her compatriot and occasional doubles partner Coco Gauff. The WTA star’s winning apparel in Charleston included the light purple Adidas Summer Match Tank and Adidas Summer Match Skirt.