Pegula saves five match points in Berlin and thus conquers the first title on the grass field

World No. 5 Jessica Pegula saved five championship points to win her first Hologic WTA Tour title of the year and the first of her career on grass. On Sunday, Pegula came back from the brink to beat No. 24 Anna Kalinskaya 6-7(0), 6-4, 7-6(3) in the final of the ecotrans Ladies Open.

“I knew I could play well on this surface and giving myself a few extra weeks on grass clearly paid off,” Pegula said. “I played some really good tennis this week and I feel like I beat some really good girls, especially on grass. It's cool to be able to get a win like that.”

Berlin: Pulls|Scheme|Scores

Berlin is Pegula's fifth career title and first since winning Seoul in 2023. The victory came in only the second tournament of her comeback after the rib injury that forced her to leave the European clay court season.

'You panic a bit': Pegula is back and ready to grind after an injury

“Jess, you're such a fighter, it's nice to see you on tour again,” Kalinskaya said on court. 'You couldn't ask for a better comeback.

“If we played each other like that every time, I would be happy for both of us.”

Championship Sunday started with an efficient performance from Pegula, who resumed her suspended semi-final match against top seed Coco Gauff to win four of five points to win 7-5, 7-6(2). The victory, her first Top 10 victory of the year, advanced Pegula to her first final of the season and the first grass final of her career.

Pegula won her only previous meeting against Kalinskaya, a three-set effort at the 2019 Citi Open. In the second meeting between them, Kaliskaya quickly fell behind 3–0 in the opening set before taking an off-court medical timeout. When play resumed, Kalinskaya turned to her first stroke of tennis to slowly claw herself back into the match. Pegula served for the set at 5-3, but Kalinskaya's laser-like returns continued to unnerve the American and she was broken.

Pegula's frustration boiled over in the tiebreak, as Kalinskaya coolly rolled through seven perfect points to complete her comeback.

Pegula hit back to force a decider, coming from 4–1 down in the third set to level the match at 4–4. The American seemed to be on his way to a surge to the finish. With Kalinskaya serving at 4-4, Pegula had a triple break point for a chance to serve out the win. But Kalinskaya unleashed a series of forehand punches to wipe away Pegula's chances (four break points in total) and take the lead at 5-4.

Pegula showed her tough base mentality by fending off four championship points to hold the score at 5-5 and then saved another while serving to force the decisive tiebreak. There, Pegula's superior rally tolerance, with the help of a perfect lob, won the day. She won the last five points of the match, sealing the victory after 2 hours and 38 minutes.

“That's probably the most confidence I've ever had going to Wimbledon. Hopefully that pays off. Being able to hang in there for a few matches and play a few long matches, especially to get the body ready.” , and also dealing with many rain delays. That is always possible at Wimbledon, so that was also a good mental preparation.

“I feel like I've been through a lot this week, so if I can handle this week I think I should feel pretty good at Wimbledon.”

Kalinskaya entered the 2024 season at number 77 on the PIF WTA Rankings. She has achieved a series of career milestones, including her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open and her first WTA 1000 final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and now her first final on grass.

Before this week, Kalinskaya had yet to advance beyond the round of 16 at a grass court event.

In doubles, Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai defeated Chan Hao-Ching and Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 7-5 to win their second team title. The Chinese team lost only one set during the week, ousting No. 2 seeds Luisa Stefani and Demi Schuurs and No. 3 seeds Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok.