Charleston Check-In: A Closer Look at Saturday’s Semifinals

INTO THIRD STRAIGHT CHARLESTON SEMI, PEGULA SEEKS ‘REVENGE’

[1] Jessica Pegula (USA) vs. [9] Ekaterina Alexandrova
Credit One Stadium, not before 1 p.m.

Into the Credit One Charleston Open semifinals for the third straight year, top seed Jessica Pegula would love nothing more than to take the next step and play for the trophy on Sunday. But standing in her way is ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who has claimed two of their three previous encounters, including a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal decision earlier this year in Doha.

“She’s tough. When she’s striking the ball in her zone, she can beat anybody. She tends to upset a lot of top seeds,” said Pegula, who’s won a tour-best 23 matches on the year, a number equaled only by world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. “But I feel like on the clay, hopefully, I can mix it up, show some variety. When she’s serving, hitting her shots, she can be really, really dangerous. I need some revenge.”

As she showed in the quarterfinals on Friday, when she stormed back from a set down to dethrone defending champion Danielle Collins, Pegula can adjust on the fly, neutralizing her opponents with her steadiness from the baseline and an ability to switch up the looks.

“I think Jess’ movement is incredible, her anticipation and skills with her hands, too, and kind of being able to throw in a different variety,” said Collins following the 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 defeat.

She may own the head-to-head history, but Alexandrova, back in the semifinals here for the first time since 2022, is expecting an all-out battle.

“It’s always difficult to play against her,” said Alexandrova, who is seeking her first clay-court final. “The last two matches we played, it was three sets. Every match was super difficult because she’s so consistent on the baseline. She’s not giving you any easy points. Everything you’re winning, you need to earn it. There’s nothing super-easy, so you just need to wait and hope she’s going to hit some errors.”

Both of Alexandrova’s wins came on hard courts. Their Saturday semifinal on the green clay of Credit One Stadium should present an altogether different challenge.

Amanda Anisimova.

[8] Amanda Anisimova (USA) vs. Sofia Kenin (USA)
Credit One Stadium, immediately following first semifinal

A resurgent Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open titlist and former world No. 4, is into her first semifinal since Tokyo in 2024. She says she’s not taking it lightly.

“It’s another great opportunity,” she said. “I have the momentum. I’m very confident.”

She’ll need that confidence against surging powerballer Amanda Anisimova, who stood tall in front of a partisan Credit One Stadium crowd in taking down local hero Emma Navarro on Friday night, 7-5, 7-6(1). Now at a career-high No. 16 in the PIF WTA Rankings, the Jersey-born, Miami-raised Anisimova has become a more complete player since her return to the tour last year after an extended hiatus. In February, the 23-year-old captured the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 event in Doha.

“I’m just really trying to improve with each week,” said Anisimova. “With tennis, it can be very up and down, but I just try and look at everything as a new experience and something that I can learn from. I’m just excited to just keep working and trying to build a good base and keep improving. I’m just enjoying the process of it all.”

“Amanda, she’s obviously a big hitter,” said Kenin, 26. “She’s added more variety and more drop shots, coming in. But I think everyone around me knows what I’m capable of.”

These two haven’t met since their Challenger days back in 2017, splitting a pair of matches. You can those results out the window. We’re in new territory on the green clay of Charleston.

“It’s been a while, so it will be something new, and I’m sure it will be a tough match,” said Anisimova. “She fights for every ball and plays some tricky tennis. It will be a good one, another tough battle.”

Sofia Kenin.