Jessica Pegula survived a scare against Magdalena Frech to confirm her place in the quarter finals of the Washington Open.
The American lost the first set 6-3, before producing a stunning comeback to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-0 to reach the last eight of one of her home tournaments.
Pegula is the top seed at the Washington Open and will be hoping to claim her third WTA Tour title of 2026, following her victories at the Charleston Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The star will next play Anna Kalinskaya in Washington for a place in the semi finals, something she isn’t entirely happy about.
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Speaking on court after her win against Frech, Pegula said: “I saw her score before I came out here, and I’m like, ‘Sorry Anna, but I was kind of hoping I wasn’t going to have to face you because we literally always play three sets’
“We always have crazy matches,” added the American. “We had a really tough match here in the semis when I won my first title, and we’ve played so many times that we just laugh. We’re like, oh, here we go again.”
Pegula and Kalinskaya have played each other five times on the WTA Tour, with every single clash needing to be decided with a deciding set.
Despite Pegula’s fears heading into their Washington Open match, the star has a terrific head to head record against the Russian star.
She has won four of their five matches together, with her only defeat coming at the Strasbourg Open on the clay during the 2025 season.
Pegula has beaten Kalinskaya at the Washington Open, the Berlin Open, the Miami Open, and the Brisbane International.
The American should also be buoyed by the ranking disparity between the two stars.
Pegula will begin the match ranked 17 places above Kalinskaya on the WTA Tour. The American is currently ranked world No 3, while Kalinskaya is 20th in the WTA Tour rankings.
Both Pegula and Kalinskaya have reached the final of the Washington Open, but they have endured differing results.
Pegula won the tournament back in 2019 by defeating Camila Giorgi in the final, while Kalinskaya lost the 2025 final to Leylah Fernandez.
Both women are strong favourites at the tournament this year, so you could argue that the winner of this match will become the outright favourite for the Washington Open title.
Whatever happens, you can be sure it will go the distance and need to be decided over three sets, such is the history over the years between Pegula and Kalinskaya.
