Jessica Pegula escapes "wild ride" against Hailey Baptiste in Wuhan, continues push towards WTA Finals

Jessica Pegula found herself on a “wild ride” to victory Wednesday at the Wuhan Open, staving off Hailey Baptiste and avoiding a massive collapse in continuing her push towards a fourth consecutive WTA Finals appearance.

In what looked to be a decisive final set for the No. 6 seed turned into a dramatic fight to the finish line. Leading Baptiste by a 5-2 double break, Pegula couldn’t capitalize on five match points across the next two games before her countrywoman broke at love to suddenly level the scoreboard.

🖥️📲 Pegula vs. Baptiste: The Match In 15 Minutes

I don’t really know what to say about that match. It’s been brutal. Jessica Pegula

After Baptiste fought off a break point to regain the lead, Pegula regrouped to send their decider into a tiebreak. While Baptiste came within two points of completing a stunning comeback, Pegula eventually wrapped up the battle on her seventh match point. What followed was a roar of delight—and perhaps relief—after Baptiste’s forehand flew long to end the clash at two hours and 57 minutes.

“I don’t really know what to say about that match. It’s been brutal,” Pegula reflected in her on-court interview. “I had match points, and then she started playing well. I think I just got a little tentative, and that’s all it takes sometimes for someone to come back.

“I’m really proud of myself for how I held it together, because I think I easily could’ve just collapsed. But I held tough, so yeah, that was a wild ride.”

The emotion was understandable given Pegula’s loss in Beijing to Linda Noskova four days earlier after holding three match points against the Czech.

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With three spots up for grabs, Pegula sits in the driver’s seat to qualify for the season finale at Riyadh. The 31-year-old began this week at No. 5 in the Race to the WTA Finals ahead of the already qualified Australian Open champion Madison Keys. The next person in line, Mirra Andreeva, fell in her Wuhan opener to Laura Siegemund—opening the door for Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini to shake up the standings by producing a strong showing at the season's final WTA 1000 event.

Ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, looking to make a major push this week to strengthen her case in the race conversation, awaits Pegula in the round of 16. Alexandrova eased past Ann Li, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Third seed Coco Gauff, who is among the five women to have sealed their tickets to Riyadh, rolled through her opener. Gauff dismissed Moyuka Uchijima, 6-1, 6-0, in a performance that saw her fire five aces to zero double faults.