BY JAMES BECK
CHARLESTON, S.C. – – You might say that Jessica Pegula was lucky Saturday afternoon.
She could have lost to 18-year-old Iva Jovic. The tall Californian is just that good.
A year from now, Jovic might be winning Grand Slam titles. She came close to taking out the top-seeded Pegula Saturday in the semifinals of the Credit One Charleston Open.
Pegula did what other opponents had been doing all week long to her. She won the first set against Jovic.
It could have been Jovic’s set. After all, she fought off seven break points in the third game to take a 3-0 lead against Pegula.
PEGULA HOLDS ON TO TAKE FIRST SET
Pegula was determined not to lose a fourth straight opening set, although Jovic had to rally from double game point in the seventh game to rally into a 4-3 lead.
That was as far as Jovic could go in the first set, even though she had one break point in the eighth game and an ad-point in the ninth game. That was before Pegula won the 10th game to take the first set in what ended up a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory for Pegula and a spot in Sunday’s final opposite relatively unknown Ukraine native Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Starodubtseva is best known in tennis circles from her years of playing at Old Dominion University. She is 26 years old and ranked only 89th in the world.
YULIIA’S RANKING HEADED UP
Like Jovic, Yuliia is headed upward in the rankings after her 6-1, 6-4 conquest of 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys to earn a spot in Sunday’s final against Pegula.
Jovic is the most talented looking player to come along in the women’s game in a number of years. She has all the tools. She is a tall 5-8, but looks taller. Her ground strokes are low and crisp, much like her serves. Just keep an eye on her.
She likes hard courts and plays like Pete Sampras. Watch out Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.
PEGULA CRITIQUES JOVIC’S GAME
Pegula, of course, has her own critique of the talented Jovic, who has moved all the way up to 16th in the WTA rankings.
“She’s really good at kind of taking time and space away, and I think sometimes when you can force somebody to have to go for things that they’re necessarily not comfortable with, then that can be a very good strategy, and that’s something that I use against a lot of players,” Pegula said.
“But I do think against someone like her (Jovic), she definitely likes pace, I think, and you could tell that when I hit kind of the same ball over and over again, she would start to play better.”
Starodubtseva was definitely happy to earn a berth in her first tour-level final.
“Thoughts are great,” Starodubtseva said. “I mean, definitely excited to play in the final. Charleston is a great tournament, and I feel like it’s a strong 500 to be in the final of. So feeling a little proud of myself today.
“I feel like I belong here, and I feel comfortable playing in a big crowd and feel the noise.”
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James Beck (843-795-3584, h)
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
