One Point From Going Home, Jessica Pegula Fires a Career-High 16 Aces and Reaches the WTA Finals Semifinals

Jessica Pegula was one point from packing her bags on Thursday. Instead, she is headed to the final four of the WTA Finals.

Pegula saved a match point late in the third set and beat Czech Linda Noskova 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 45 minutes at Indian Wells, claiming the second semifinal spot from Group 1 and ending the tournament for fellow American Coco Gauff. Along the way she served a career-high 16 aces, two more than her previous best, which she had also hit against Noskova in Berlin.

The decisive moment came deep in the third set. Trailing 5-4, Pegula double-faulted to hand Noskova a match point. She saved it, held for 5-all, broke for 6-5 and then served out the win. According to the WTA, she became the first player to win a WTA Finals match after facing match point since Simona Halep in 2019.

It was not a clean night. Pegula took the first set in a tiebreak, 7-2, before her first-serve percentage slid from 61 percent to 50 percent in a second set that Noskova won. Noskova came in holding a 3-1 career edge over Pegula, including a three-set win in their final in Berlin.

Pegula had opened the week with a loss, and she made clear afterward how badly she wanted to stay. "But I definitely wanted another chance to still be here," she said.

Group 1 finished in a three-way tie at 2-1 among Pegula, Noskova and Gauff, with alternate Marta Kostyuk going 0-3. Kostyuk had stepped in for 2025 champion Elena Rybakina, who withdrew with a viral illness.

Earlier Thursday, Gauff did everything she could. After taking the first set against Kostyuk, she fell behind 5-1 in the second and took a medical timeout to have a trainer work on her tight lower back, which she said bothered her most on serve. The 2024 champion then won the last six games to close out a 6-4, 7-5 victory and keep her hopes alive. Speaking to Tennis Channel afterward, she laughed that she did not know how she had come back from 5-1. Her fate then rested on Noskova beating Pegula.

When all three finished 2-1, the tiebreaker went to the percentage of sets won. Pegula won five sets to Gauff's four, giving her second place. Noskova, who dropped only two sets in three matches and had beaten Gauff 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday, won the group.

The set that made the difference traced back to Sunday's opener. Gauff won that match 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2, but she had held a set point to win it in straight sets before Pegula forced a decider. That one set, won in a losing effort, is the reason Pegula is still playing. She followed it by beating Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday.

Pegula, the No. 5 seed, will face No. 3 Mirra Andreeva, who won Group 2 after routing Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday. The WTA said it will be the pair's first meeting on the WTA Tour. Noskova, the No. 8 seed, will play the winner of Friday's match between No. 2 Sabalenka and No. 6 Elina Svitolina, which decides second place in Group 2. The semifinals are set for Saturday, with the final on Sunday.

This is Pegula's third WTA Finals semifinal, after 2023 and 2025, and the first time she has reached the last four after losing her opening match. Heading into the final day of group play, the WTA had laid out the possible paths for both Americans, and in the end it all came down to the day's second singles match.

Noskova has been one of the stories of the week. At 21, she became the youngest player to reach the semifinals on her WTA Finals debut since Petra Kvitova in 2011, and she has beaten Gauff in both of their meetings this year.

The rewards are significant. Each round-robin win is worth $230,000 and 200 ranking points, a semifinal win adds $820,000 and 400 points, and the champion takes home $3.37 million. The event moved to Indian Wells this year after its agreement with Saudi Arabia ended early, and it is scheduled to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, starting in 2027.

There is something worth celebrating in an athlete who refuses to quit when the scoreboard says she is finished. Pegula lost her first match of the week, fell behind a player who had beaten her three times in four tries, and stood one point from elimination with her serve wobbling. She kept swinging, 16 aces' worth, and earned her way through.

Gauff deserves her own credit. Down 5-1 with a sore back, she could have let the set go. She did not, and she walked off with a win even though the math went against her. In an era when sports too often rewards noise, two Americans showing that kind of quiet grit on the same day is a good reminder of what competition is supposed to teach.