CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – APRIL 06: Jessica Pegula of United States poses with the trophy and her … More
Top seed Jessica Pegula won her first clay-court title at the Charleston Open on Sunday after mounting a second-set comeback to beat fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5.
Pegula, the finalist at the WTA 1000 Miami Open last month, made a strong start in the finale as she broke Kenin in the opening game before clinching the set.
However, Kenin fought back in style in the second set, racing to a 5-1 lead.
Just when Kenin looked set to push the contest into a decider, Pegula saved three set points and won six consecutive games to mount a terrific fightback and clinch victory.
With that, Pegula sealed her second title this season, adding to the WTA 250 title she won in Austin last month.
“To be able to come here this week after a long two weeks in Miami and take the title is just incredible,” Pegula said after the first all-American final at the WTA 500 tournament since 1990.
“I just realized how tired I was. She started to play at a high level, there were a couple of games I didn’t get out of, didn’t break, didn’t hold,” she told Tennis Channel.
“It was super windy, super tough conditions. If you lose focus for a split second or stop moving your feet for a second, it just swings so fast. It was the same way for both of us.”
“In the second set, I just wanted to hold, I just wanted to tell myself to get momentum for the third, because coming into a third like that never feels good,” she continued.
“I knew I could break her, too. I honestly didn’t think I was going to break her twice, but luckily, I could play some good tennis.”
Pegula has won 17 of her last 19 matches, including five victories this week. She has 25 victories for the season — which is No. 1 on the WTA Tour.
On Monday, the 31-year-old will leapfrog youngster Coco Gauff as the top-ranked U.S. player, and rise to a career-high World No. 3.
“I think my perseverance won me a lot of matches this week,” Pegula said. “I think, especially on the clay, I feel like you have to have kind of that grittiness and that toughness, because the serve isn’t as effective.
“There’s not as many free points, and I think winning a couple of tough points or a tough game can kind of turn the momentum of a set or a match, and I felt like I was able to do that multiple times this week.
On Sunday, the Charleston Open also extended its title partnership with Credit One Bank through 2031 and committed to providing equal prize money to male and female players starting in 2026.
With this move, the Credit One Charleston Open, North America’s largest women’s-only professional tennis tournament, becomes the first standalone WTA 500 tournament to voluntarily increase prize money prior to the 2033 deadline for all single-week WTA 1000 and 500 events to reward equal prize money.
This means the 2026 purse will jump from $1.15 million to over $2 million to match ATP 500 standards.
