Jessica Pegula leads US charge at the Australian Open
Mackenzie McDonald #MackenzieMcDonald
USA’s Jessica Pegula beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets to advance to the third round of the Australian Open Tuesday night.
Pegula, who beat No. 1-seed Iga Swiatek at the United Cup this month, was clinical in the first set against 38th-ranked Sasnovich, but put through her paces in the second.
Pegula served for the match at 5-4 in the second but was broken, before regrouping to win the tiebreaker.
But she was content with her performance ahead of a next round clash with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk or Australian Olivia Gadecki.
‘My game really suits the conditions in Australia,’ said Pegula. ‘Every tournament you want to take it one match at a time, but also have big goals.’
The third seed will next play Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine or Olivia Gadecki, a wild-card entry from Australia.
Pegula was followed on the Rod Laver court by 65th-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald, who faced defending champion and 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old, rising USA star Coco Gauff is set to face former US open winner Emma Raducanu in the battle of the ‘Next Generation’ in the early hours, from around 3am EST onwards.
Only matches on the three main stadiums, which have roofs, were able to begin on time as persistent rain compounded a scheduling backlog, with hours again lost to the conditions.
