Top-seeded Jessica Pegula repeated as Charleston Open champion with a solid 6-2, 6-2 victory in 82 minutes over Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine on Sunday.
Pegula saved 7 of 8 break points while converting 5 of 6 of her own break point opportunities. This is her second title of the season and 11th of her career as she also won at Dubai in February.
Pegula, 32, leads the WTA with 24 victories this season, inching ahead of Aryna Sabalenka.
It was a breakthrough tournament for the 26-year-old Starodubtseva, who was placed into the main draw when another player withdrew. She posted five straight wins before struggling Sunday with 11 winners and a whopping 41 unforced errors. Her ranking will rise to a career-best No. 53 on Monday.
Copa Colsanitas
No. 1 seed Marie Bouzkova saved 10 of 14 break points and defeated No. 8 seed Panna Udvardy 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-2 in the final in Bogota, Colombia.
Bouzkova won on the WTA Tour for the third time and the first time outside of her native Czech Republic. Udvardy, a Hungary native ranked 92nd in the world, had reached her first career final.
Udvardy rallied from down 5-3 in the opening set to force the tiebreaker, then spotted Bouzkova a 5-0 lead and saved two set points as she clawed out of that hole. But Bouzkova was in control the rest of the way, winning 57.3% of her total service points and more than half of her return points (49 of 96).
–Field Level Media
