Pegula, Fernandez move into Miami showdown after second-round victories
Jessica Pegula will face Leylah Fernandez in a third-round assembly of former Grand Slam finalists on the Miami Open after each got here by means of contrasting wins on Saturday.
Miami: Scores | Draws | Order of play
No. 5 seed Pegula, final yr’s runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka, superior after Francesca Jones was pressured to retire as a consequence of sickness trailing 6-1, 3-0. No. 26 seed Fernandez needed to battle arduous to quell Oksana Selekhmeteva 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-1 in 2 hours and 25 minutes.
Pegula’s backhand sizzling shot foils Jones
After Pegula breezed by means of a one-sided first set, Jones — who had revealed that she had been sick throughout her first-round win over Venus Williams — took a medical time-out and was attended by a health care provider. The World No. 93 was briefly rejuvenated on return: she performed her best level of the match within the first recreation of the second set, a superbly-constructed rally that arrange a skimming, angled backhand slice for an obvious successful shot.
Not so. Pegula managed to trace it down and flick a backhand that sailed previous Jones and landed completely within the nook of the Briton’s court docket. Jones shook her head in disbelief — even elevating her stage hadn’t been sufficient to get previous Pegula.
Fernandez comes up clutch for much-needed win
Former US Open finalist Fernandez got here into Miami in search of some kind. Before this week, her 2026 file was a sparse 2-7, and she or he has not gained back-to-back matches since reaching the Hong Kong semifinals final October. Selekhmeteva was a possible banana pores and skin: the 23-year-old cracked the Top 100 final October and has pushed on this yr, reaching the third spherical of the Australian Open (by way of an upset of Paula Badosa) and the Austin quarterfinals to rise to a profession excessive of No. 71 this week.
Selekhmeteva did certainly push Fernandez arduous, together with her uncommon double-handed backhand slice and deadly left-handed forehand proving significantly helpful. But Fernandez delivered flash of her personal — a superb diving volley enabled her to take management of the first-set tiebreak — in addition to superior clutch play.
That first-set tiebreak had been a formidable restoration for Fernandez after she missed her first set level at 5-4. In the decider, she saved all 5 break factors she confronted — together with 4 in a marathon six-deuce tussle to carry for 3-0 — and transformed each of her alternatives on the Selekhmeteva serve.
Another barnburner developing?
Next up is the fourth version of Pegula’s rivalry with Fernandez, and the second to happen in Miami following their second-round assembly in 2024. That was their first encounter, gained by Pegula 7-5, 6-4, and the one one to finish in straight units.
Since then, the pair have pushed one another all the way in which. Pegula wanted 3 hours and 4 minutes to triumph 7-5, 6-7(1), 7-6(3) within the 2024 Cincinnati quarterfinals, changing her fifth match level after dropping a 4-0 second-set lead. Fernandez acquired her first win within the sequence final yr within the Washington semifinals, rising a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victor and occurring to say her first WTA 500 title.
This time spherical, Pegula has the agency edge when it comes to kind. She has reached no less than the quarterfinals of her previous eight tournaments and has compiled a 17-3 file in 2026 to this point, together with her tenth profession title in Dubai a month in the past.
“Leylah and I always seem to have really intense matches,” she mentioned. “We all know that when she gets hot and she’s playing confidently it can be really tricky, especially against a lefty. I know she probably likes the fast courts as well with her serve.”
