No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula cruised into the semifinals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia on Thursday in Doha.
Pegula finished the 85-minute quarterfinal match with 22 winners and 16 unforced errors. She won four of the last five games in the opening set and the first four games of the second set.
Pegula next faces No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, who outlasted No. 3 Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5). Sakkari saved all three break points she faced in the two-hour, 41-minute victory.
Top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 8 Veronika Kudermetova of Russia will meet in the other semifinal of the WTA 500 event.
Swiatek advanced in a walkover after No. 7 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland withdrew Wednesday, citing fatigue, while Kudermetova needed two hours and 4 minutes to put away No. 4 seed Coco Gauff 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Swiatek has not lost a set in two previous encounters with Kudermetova.
–Field Level Media
