Jessica Pegula holds off Paula Badosa in Cincinnati semis for ninth successive win

Jessica Pegula is one win away from pulling off the Canadian Open-Cincinnati Open double.

In a battle of competitors holding recent North American summer hard-court hardware, Toronto champion Pegula held off Washington, D.C. title holder Paula Badosa, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, late Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve been working a lot on my fitness and movement, especially being out. I had a rib injury so we got to do a lot on the lower body,” Pegula shared with Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “I feel like I’ve been moving really great every single match the last couple weeks. That’s been really helpful and gives me a lot of confidence when I’m out there, especially in three sets.”

If Pegula is to complete the title sweep and notch a 10th straight victory, she’ll have to clear an in-form Aryna Sabalenka. The world No. 3 dominated top-ranked Iga Swiatek, 6-3, 6-3, in the first semifinal.

With Badosa appearing sluggish from the start, the American pounced in building a rapid 4-0 lead. Badosa ran down a drop shot to save a break point and later released a loud “come on!” once claiming her first game.

Badosa cut the deficit to 2-4, but the No. 6 seed responded beautifully with a forehand return winner to break at love.

During the set break, Badosa directed more frustration towards her box. Letting it out didn’t help the cause at first. Having dropped serve for a fourth time, the former world No. 2 couldn’t find an opening in a four-deuce game in seeing Pegula consolidate.

Upping her rally tolerance and hitting more targets, Badosa ran off the next three games. Pegula notably missed a 30-40 break opportunity and 40-30 game point before the Spaniard got the set back on serve.

With Badosa leading 4-3, light rain interrupted play. There was hope it would quickly pass by, but heavier precipitation followed in forcing everyone to take cover.

Badosa came out a different player when the match resumed. She struck an inside-out backhand return winner to seize an immediate break and followed it up with a pair of aces. Three points later, the clash was back on even terms.

Following holds by each player, Pegula fended off four break points in what proved to be a crucial game. At 3-4, 30-30, Badosa tossed in her eighth double fault and Pegula took full advantage to draw a backhand error.

One final test for Pegula emerged, when she shook off a tight backhand that put her behind 30-40 to grab the final three points of the encounter. The 30-year-old has won her four matches here over three days, after inclement weather forced her to pull double duty Friday.

“I actually felt good today, physically. Maybe getting that hot day, powering through out of the way gave me a little extra today,” Pegula said.

Sabalenka has won four of their six prior battles, though Pegula took their most recent during the round robin stage of last year's WTA Finals in Cancun.