Jessica Pegula charges into Washington quarterfinals

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula overcame a slow start and produced a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Poland’s Magdalena Frech on ​Thursday in the second round of the Mubadala ‌DC Open in Washington. Pegula came through in the match’s key moments, converting five break opportunities and saving 5 of 7 break points on ​her own serve. The 2019 Washington champion (and winner of ​the unofficial 2021 Washington event amid the pandemic), Pegula ⁠will oppose fifth-seeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia in the ​quarterfinals. Kalinskaya rallied past Indonesia’s Janice Tjen 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) in ​the second round. Tjen had a match point with Kalinskaya serving at 4-5 in the third set, then another at 6-5 in the ​tiebreaker, but she didn’t take advantage of either. In other ​second-round matches, second-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine beat Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova 7-6 (4), ‌6-4, ⁠and fourth-seeded Diana Shnaider of Russia thrashed Austria’s Anastasia Potapova 6-1, 6-2. The Memphis Classic Two seeded U. S. players cruised into the quarterfinals in Tennessee behind dominant second-round efforts. Sixth-seeded Caty McNally downed ​China’s Ye-Xin ​Ma 6-2, 6-3, ⁠and seventh-seeded Peyton Stearns routed Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova 6-1, 6-2. McNally didn’t serve an ace, but ​she won 68. 8% of her first-serve points ​compared to ⁠Ma’s 39. 4% success rate on first-serve points. Stearns dominated the same stat, winding up at 64. 3% to Prozorova’s 44. 2%. Also moving ⁠into ​the quarterfinals were the Czech Republic’s ​Darja Vidmanova, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Sloane Stephens, and Russia’s Kristina Liutova, ​who defeated Australia’s Maya Joint 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

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