Jessica Pegula Defends Charleston Title, Matches Serena Williams Feat

The victory gives Pegula her second title of 2026, following her WTA 1000 triumph in Dubai in February, and the 11th singles title of her career. She is now 11-11 in WTA singles finals and leads the WTA Tour with 24 wins this season.

"It was definitely a tough path last year and this year," said Pegula, who spent more than 13 hours on the court this week between singles and doubles. "I think sometimes when you win a tournament, you kind of romanticize it, like it was so easy. It's usually not. There are usually some days when it's really hard. I think I shifted my mindset coming back and defending."

Pegula joins an impressive list of women who have won this title more than once, including Williams, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Tracy Austin.

Pegula trailed briefly on serve at 2-1, but she rattled off five straight games to take the first set in just over half an hour.

The turning point came at 2-2, when a Starodubtseva forehand miss into the open court gave Pegula a small opening at 30-30. Another forehand error on the next point handed her a break point, and though she didn't convert that one, a third miss off the same wing for Starodubtseva delivered Pegula the break.

Pegula built a 5-0 lead in the second. Serving for the match, she hit a brief snag in a 12-minute game in which Starodubtseva saved three championship points and earned her first break of the afternoon. But Pegula righted the ship two games later.

A clean forehand strike to open the final game set the table for a tidy love hold, and 15 minutes after her first opportunity, she converted her fourth championship point to seal the win, WTA reports.

Starodubtseva was appearing in her first tour-level final. The 26-year-old wasn't even in the main draw until Amanda Anisimova's last-minute withdrawal made a spot available.

Starodubtseva is set for a significant jump. After entering the week at No. 89, she is projected to rise to a career-high No. 53, 10 spots above her previous best of No. 63.

- IANS