Jessica Pegula ekes out 2nd-round win in Charleston

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula held off a stiff challenge from Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva and rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win in the second round of the Credit One Charleston Open on Wednesday in Charleston, S.C.

The match featured a whopping 37 break points, with Pegula converting seven of her 18 chances while Putintseva won just six of her 19 break opportunities.

The American moves on to a third-round contest against 14th-seeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, who defeated China’s Yue Yuan 6-0, 7-5.

Fourth-seeded Iva Jovic won 6-3, 6-2 in an all-US matchup against Alycia Parks, and fifth-seeded American Madison Keys downed Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3.

Also advancing to the third round were ninth-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 16th seeded Sofia Kenin and 17th-seeded Peyton Stearns of the US, Spain’s Paula Badosa, Hungary’s Anna Bondar, the United States’ McCartney Kessler and Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.

In the final match of the night, Mexico’s Renata Zarazua upended 15th-seeded Hailey Baptiste of the United States 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, needing seven match points to close it out in the last game while saving four break points.

Copa Colsanitas Colsubsidio Argentina’s Julia Riera rebounded from an awful first set to pull away for a 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Anna Blinkova of Russia in the second round at Bogota, Colombia.

Riera, ranked 186th in the world, overcame serving 10 double faults without registering an ace.

Blinkova had similar serving problems, committing six double faults against only one ace. Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa pulled off another second-round upset, getting past fourth-seeded Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-3, 6-3.

Eighth-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary dumped the United States’ Julieta Pareja 6-0, 2-6, 6-1, and Latvia’s Darja Semenistaja outlasted Greece’s Despina Papamichail 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.