Pegula holds off Parry to advance to Beijing third round
Playing her first match since the US Open final, No.2 seed Jessica Pegula came from 3-1 down in the second set to defeat Diane Parry 6-1, 7-6(4) in the China Open second round.
Pegula, who had withdrawn from Seoul last week due to a rib injury, notched her 16th win in her last 18 matches. The only player to have defeated her since the Paris Olympic Games is Aryna Sabalenka, who got the better of Pegula in both the Cincinnati and US Open finals.
Following a one-sided first set against Parry, whom she was facing for the first time, Pegula had to survive a nail-biting second set in which the Frenchwoman pushed her all the way. Ultimately, Pegula was able to reel off the last five points of the match from 4-2 down in the tiebreak.
The American will next face No.32 seed Veronika Kudermetova, who came through a three-set thriller to deny Chinese No.3 Wang Xinyu 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in 2 hours and 42 minutes.
