Jessica Pegula Outlasts Noskova to Reach WTA Finals Semifinals

Group 1 at the WTA Finals came down to one match, with three players competing for two semifinal spots. Pegula’s win over Noskova came down to the final set, but Noskova still finished at the top of the group. Here’s how Pegula got through, sending Coco Gauff home, and what awaits her in the semifinals.

Pegula Defeats Noskova in WTA Finals Group Stage

Jessica Pegula beat Linda Noskova 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5 on Thursday night in Indian Wells, a result that sent her through to the semifinals and knocked out Gauff on a tiebreak. In the back-and-forth match, Pegula won the first-set tiebreak, and Noskova took the second set, then broke early to lead 2-0 in the decider. Pegula fought back, saving a match point at 5-4, and won the final three games.

Pegula hit a career-high 16 aces during the match, and she became the first player since Simona Halep in 2019 to win a WTA Finals match after saving a match point. This was the second straight match that Pegula had to win to stay alive in the group stage after losing her opener to Coco Gauff. She beat Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday, and secured her place in the semifinals with her win over Noskova on Thursday.

Gauff Falls Short on Set Percentage

Coco Gauff did all she could to qualify for the semifinals, finishing 2-1 in the group stage but failing to qualify on a tiebreak. Earlier on Thursday, she beat Kostyuk 6-4, 7-5 after trailing 5-1 in the second set and needing a medical timeout for her lower back, winning the last six games. However, she needed Noskova to beat Pegula, and when Pegula won, the group finished in a three-way tie at 2-1.

With all three tied at 2-1, the tiebreaker was the percentage of sets each player won in the group. Noskova won five of her seven sets (71%), Pegula won five of her eight (63%), and Gauff won four of her seven (57%). With only the top two advancing, this sent Noskova and Pegula through to the semifinals, while Gauff was eliminated despite beating Pegula in their opening match.

Noskova Wins the Group

Despite the loss, Noskova still finished first in Group 1. The 21-year-old Wimbledon champion became the tournament’s first semifinalist when she beat Gauff 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday, saying afterward she didn’t even know she had clinched the semifinals already. She will play the winner of Friday's Sabalenka-Svitolina match in the semifinals.

The final Group 1 standings are as follows:

Player	Record (W - L)	Sets (W - L)	Status
Linda Noskova (8)	2 - 1	5 - 2	Advanced (1st Place)
Jessica Pegula (5)	2 - 1	5 - 3	Advanced (2nd Place)
Coco Gauff (4)	2 - 1	4 - 3	Eliminated (3rd Place)
Marta Kostyuk (9)	0 - 3	0 - 6	Eliminated (4th Place)

How Will the WTA Finals Play Out?

With her win over Noskova, Pegula is set to face Mirra Andreeva in the first semifinal match on Saturday. Andreeva won Group 2 by beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday, and at 19 she’s the youngest WTA Finals semifinalist since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. Pegula, meanwhile, comes off a much more grueling match on Thursday. This will be the American’s third WTA Finals semifinal appearance, but she will be the underdog this weekend.

The two have never played each other in singles, and the match comes just ten days after a livestream microphone picked up Pegula’s comments about Andreeva during a practice session. Andreeva has said she appreciated that Pegula came up to apologize the same day.

Pegula will need to rely on her experience and her serve on Saturday to overcome Andreeva. Her serve is her best tool, and the 16 aces she hit against Noskova came from varying the speed and direction of her serve. Holding comfortably would take pressure off her in rallies against an opponent that moves quicker and hits a little harder. Andreeva has lost only eight games in her first two matches, so Pegula can’t afford a slow start.

If Pegula does get through, she’ll face the winner of the other semifinal, which will be Noskova or whoever wins Friday’s Sabalenka-Svitolina match.

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