Cincinnati (AFP) – World number three Jessica Pegula extended her dominance over Amanda Anisimova on Thursday, beating her fellow American 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) to reach the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters semi-finals. Sixth-seeded Anisimova converted all five of her break points against Pegula, breaking her three times in the second set. But Pegula rebounded to claim her sixth win in as many meetings between the two.
Pegula is setting WTA records at age 32. She’s the fourth player since 2009 to reach five or more Masters 1000 quarter-finals after turning 30, along with Li Na, Serena Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. US women players were plentiful as the last eight went into action, making up half of the quarter-finalists. It marks the third time since 2009 that four Americans have made the quarters of a WTA 1000, after Toronto in 2024 and Beijing last year.
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Pegula took charge of the opening set against the 10th-ranked Anisimova, winner of two titles last season. She needed just 34 minutes to pocket the set on the first of three chances. But Anisimova struck back in the second, earning a double break for 4-0 before Pegula clawed a break back for 4-1 and held to cut the deficit to 4-2. After Anisimova squared the match at one set each, Pegula regrouped with an opening break in the deciding set. They would each be broken twice as they went to the tiebreaker, where Pegula sealed the win on her first match point.
Pegula will face the winner of Thursday night’s quarter-final between defending champion Iga Swiatek and reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina. That’s a rematch of last week’s Toronto final, where Swiatek captured her first title of 2026.
© 2024 AFP
