Jessica Pegula rallied to reach the China Open semifinals with a 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-1 win Friday against fellow American Emma Navarro in Beijing.
The fifth-seeded Pegula will face No. 26 seed Linda Noskova for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament.
Pegula needed just over two hours to defeat the 16th-seeded Navarro in the quarterfinals. Navarro gamely fought off six set points in the opening set, winning it in a tiebreak before running out of steam as Pegula dominated the next two sets.
“I told myself not to get too frustrated,” Pegula said after the match. “Just stay calm, try to relax a little bit, and not try as hard to execute the game plan. That kind of allowed me to play more free.”
Pegula saved eight of 10 break points and reached the China Open semifinals for the first time.
“She did a good job of staying tough, but at the same time I felt I was playing the right way,” Pegula said.
Noskova advanced to her first career WTA 1000 semifinal with a 6-3, 6-4 win against England’s Sonay Kartal in just 70 minutes.
Noskova took control of the opening set with breaks in the seventh and ninth games, then overcame a 3-1 deficit in the second set with breaks in the sixth and 10th games.
The 20-year-old Noskova struck six aces and converted five of nine break chances to become the youngest Czech to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal since the format was introduced in 2009.
It is the fourth semifinal of the year for Noskova and the 10th of her career, making her the third player born since 2004 to reach double digits (Coco Gauff, Diana Shnaider).
Noskova also leads the WTA Tour with 12 wins in Asia in 2025, one more than World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Kartal, ranked No. 81, was disappointed by the quarterfinal loss after knocking off World No. 5 Mirra Andreeva in the previous round.
“I’m not not overly pleased with the performance today, but regardless I had an incredible week,” Kartal said, per BBC Sport.
“I think I’m on the right path. I think it’s given me a lot of confidence. I think I’ve proved to myself that if I just add one or two more things into my game, I can take my level to a top-10 level and a much higher level than I’m currently ranked at.”
Saturday’s other semifinal is an all-American affair, with defending champion and No. 2 seed Gauff taking on No. 3 Amanda Anisimova.
–Field Level Media
