Jessica Pegula is through to yet another WTA final after battling past veteran Yanina Wickmayer in two sets at the 2023 Korea Open in Seoul.
Pegula and Wickmayer are very similar players as they enjoy a good hitting battle, and the American emerged victorious in this one. It's not a huge surprise because there are very few players that are on the level of Pegula when it comes to pure hitting.
You really need a spectacular effort to take her down, and the veteran didn't have it. Even so, this experience will be great for Wickmayer, whose comeback certainly inspired many.
Nobody saw it coming, and even today, she proved that she belonged as it was a really respectable defeat. Pegula took the opening set 6-4, but she only managed to break her opponent fairly late in the set.
She had plenty of break points before that, but Wickmayer kept herself in the match, though she didn't really create too much pressure on her opponent's serve. The second serve was quite similar in the way the rallies played out, but it was far more competitive.
Wickmayer exerted quite a bit of pressure on Pegula this time, even breaking her once, but she still didn't have enough to pull out the win. The American jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second and added another break to take a 4-1 lead, but then Wickmayer pulled one back.
Still, that was not enough to really overturn the match because her opponent was simply too good. The final score was 6-4 6-3 for the American who will contest her second final in Asia after playing the Japan Open final a few weeks ago.
That effort didn't end with a trophy so she's hopeful that this time around she does get the trophy she missed out on in Tokyo.