Australian Daria Saville has knocked out top seed and world No.7 Jessica Pegula in second-round singles action at the Citi Open at Washington.
Washington, USA, 4 August 2022 | Leigh Rogers
Washington, USA
Daria Saville has upset world No.7 Jessica Pegula in the second round at a WTA 250 tournament in Washington.
The resurgent Australian posted a 7-5 6-4 victory against the top-seeded American, who won the most recent edition of this tournament in 2019.
World No.88 Saville stayed calm under pressure, saving nine of the 10 break points she faced in the one-hour and 38-minute clash.
Dash SMASH ?
?? @Daria_gav knocks out the Washington top seed and 2019 champion Pegula in straight sets!#CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/X7eshtvBkt
— wta (@WTA) August 3, 2022
This is Saville’s 13th career top-10 victory and her highest-ranked scalp since beating world No.4 Petra Kvitova at Beijing in October 2018.
It is another high in a remarkable comeback season for Saville, whose ranking had dipped to world No.627 in February. This is the 28-year-old’s second top-10 win this season and propels her into a third tour-level quarterfinal.
“I’m happy about it, and I think that creates kind of a good reputation and players are going to see. ‘Okay, she’s playing well. She has had some good wins this year’,” Saville said.
Saville now faces Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino in the quarterfinals and is aiming to progress to a first tour-level singles semifinal since February 2018.
In men’s singles action, Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin both lost their second-round matches.
De Minaur couldn’t maintain the momentum from his title-winning run at Atlanta last week, losing to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets.
World No.21 De Minaur led 6-3 5-3, but was unable to serve out the match. Nishioka fought back to force a second-set tiebreak, which the world No.96 claimed after saving a match point.
From there, Nishioka took control to record a 3-6 7-6(6) 6-2 victory.
Third-seeded American Taylor Fritz proved too strong for Popyrin in their second-round meeting, not dropping a service game in a 6-4 6-3 victory.
These results leave Nick Kyrgios as the last Australian standing in the men’s singles draw.
Kyrgios scored a 6-3 6-4 win against 14th-seeded American Tommy Paul, with the 27-year-old firing 15 aces and saving all four break points he faced in the 85-minute encounter.
Coming up clutch ?@NickKyrgios‘ quest for a second Washington title continues with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Paul.#CitiOpen pic.twitter.com/Tj4nbOC7lM
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 4, 2022
Aussies in action – Washington
RESULTS
Women’s singles, second round
Daria Saville (AUS) d [1] Jessica Pegula (USA) 7-5 6-4
Men’s singles, second round
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d [14] Tommy Paul (USA) 6-3 6-4
[3] Taylor Fritz (USA) d Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-4 6-3
Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) d [11] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 3-6 7-6(6) 6-2
Men’s doubles, first round
[4] Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Austin Krajicek (USA) d [Q] Luke Saville (AUS)/Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-4 6-4
COMING UP
Women’s singles, second round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Liudmila Samsonova
Men’s singles, third round
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v [4] Reilly Opelka (USA)
Women’s singles, quarterfinals
Daria Saville (AUS) v [Q] Rebecca Marino (CAN)
Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/Jack Sock (USA) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA)/Eduoard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
John Peers (AUS)/Dan Evans (GBR) v [4] Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Austin Krajicek (USA)
[WC] Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Frances Tiafoe (USA) v Mackenzie McDonald (USA)/Botic van de Zandschulp (NED)
Los Cabos, Mexico
It was a tough day for Australian competitors at an ATP 250 tournament in Los Cabos.
Five Australians had progressed through to the second round at the hard-court event – but all crashed out today.
There was better news in the doubles competition, with Wimbledon champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell scoring a 6-3 6-4 first-round win against Mexican Hans Hach Verdugo and American Hunter Reese.
Aussies in action – Los Cabos
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
[1] Daniil Medvedev d [Q] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) 6-4 6-3
[4] Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) d Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-4 6-2
[6] Brandon Nakashima (USA) d [Q] Max Purcell (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Steve Johnson (USA) d [7] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4
Radu Albot (MDA) d Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-4 6-2
Men’s doubles, first round
[2] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Max Purcell (AUS) d Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX)/Hunter Reese (USA) 6-3 6-4
COMING UP
Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
[2] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Max Purcell (AUS) v Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG)/Chun-Hsin Tseng (TPE)
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