Jessica Pegula defeats Coco Gauff in Berlin semifinals for 20th Top 10 win of career

After missing the European clay-court season due to a rib injury, it hasn’t taken Jessica Pegula long to find her best tennis again.

The No. 5-ranked American has moved through to the final of Berlin, battling past Coco Gauff in a semifinal match played over two days at the WTA 500-level grass-court event, 7-5, 7-6 (2).

And Pegula achieved a number of things with the victory.

First of all, it’s her first final of the year. Her last final came at the WTA Finals at the end of last year, where she beat three of the Top 4—including Gauff—before finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek.

Second of all, it’s the first grass-court final of her career. She had never even been to the semifinals of a grass-court event before this, her best previous results being three quarterfinals, at Berlin in 2021 and at Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year.

And finally, her victory against the No. 2-ranked Gauff was the milestone 20th Top 10 win of her career. All 20 of her career Top 10 wins have come in the last three-and-a-half years, too—her first such victory came against Elina Svitolina at the 2021 Australian Open, and since then the floodgates have opened.

She's actually won eight of her last nine matches against Top 10 players, a stretch that dates back to last summer.

PEGULA VS TOP 10 PLAYERS SINCE AUGUST 2023 (8-1):
d. No. 7 Gauff in 2023 Montreal QFs, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5
d. No. 1 Swiatek in 2023 Montreal SFs, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4
d. No. 6 Sakkari in 2023 Tokyo SFs, 6-2, 6-3
d. No. 4 Rybakina in 2023 WTA Finals RR, 7-5, 6-2
d. No. 1 Sabalenka in 2023 WTA Finals RR, 6-4, 6-3
d. No. 9 Sakkari in 2023 WTA Finals RR, 6-3, 6-2
d. No. 3 Gauff in 2023 WTA Finals SFs, 6-2, 6-1
l. to No. 2 Swiatek in 2023 WTA Finals F, 6-1 6-0
d. No. 2 Gauff in 2024 Berlin SFs, 7-5, 7-6 (2)

Their semifinal clash began—and almost ended—on Saturday.

Pegula drew first blood, getting the first break of the match for 4-3 and holding for 5-3. Gauff got the break back and evened things up at 5-all, but Pegula broke again then served out the first set, ripping a big crosscourt backhand that drew an error on set point.

Gauff retaliated in the second set, breaking for 3-1 and building leads of 4-1 and 5-2, but Pegula got the break back and pushed it to a tie-break, where—after she built a 3-1 lead—play was suspended due to rain, and eventually postponed until Sunday.

When the match resumed on Sunday at noon local time, Pegula won four of the next five points to close out the victory.

After a break, Pegula will take on Anna Kalinskaya for the title.