Jessica Pegula won her first match in nearly 20 days, beating qualifier Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-0 in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The World No. 5 dominated by winning the final nine games and landing 94% of her first serves. She advances to face Iva Jovic in the round of 16.
Jessica Pegula, the No. 4 seed and World No. 5, returned to competition after skipping the first two tournaments of the Middle East swing on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. Following a semifinal run at the Australian Open, she had taken time to recover in the United States. With a bye into the second round, Pegula faced Varvara Gracheva on Tuesday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The match lasted 70 minutes, with Pegula securing a straight-sets victory 6-4, 6-0. She broke early to lead 2-0 in the first set, but Gracheva leveled at 4-3. From there, Pegula won nine straight games, including five breaks of serve overall. She conceded just one break and saved 4 of 5 break points faced, with only one double fault.
Pegula's serve was a highlight: she landed 45 of 48 first serves (94%), including four aces, winning nearly 70% of her first-service points and 50% of Gracheva's. This marks her second career win over Gracheva, the first coming in Cincinnati in 2020 by 7-5, 7-6(8).
"It feels good," Pegula said. "It's always kind of weird coming off such a good result of a Slam... I had some adversity in the first set and then was able to play a really clean from then on."
On her serving: "I was serving really well, hitting all my spots... It's something I've been working on a lot, so I'm glad I was able to utilize that today."
In the third round, Pegula awaits Iva Jovic, who plays like a "mini-me" according to Pegula. The two have never met, and Pegula expects a tough matchup in the fast conditions. Jovic, like Pegula, is in her first tournament since a quarterfinal in Melbourne.