‘I Felt I Had It’ – Jessica Pegula Speaks on Aryna Sabalenka’s ‘Tough’ Response Immediately After Berlin Rain Delay

Jessica Pegula has advanced to the final of the Berlin Tennis Open for the second time in the last three years. This time, she beat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to book her place in Sunday’s showdown.

Known for her affinity for German grass, Pegula was pleased with her performance despite a brief lapse that allowed Aryna Sabalenka back into the match when she was just a few points from a straight-sets victory.

Jessica Pegula Reacts to How Her Berlin Match Against Aryna Sabalenka Unfolded

By defeating Sabalenka in the semifinals, Pegula claimed her fourth victory in their 13 encounters. She entered the match as the slight favorite given her encouraging results on grass and her past success in the German capital.

In line with expectations, she clinched the opening set 6-4, repeatedly putting the World No. 1 under pressure on serve. Sabalenka came out firing in the second set to race to a 5-2 lead. Squandering two set points, she dropped serve immediately after, with Pegula ultimately drawing level. The American then held a 3-1 lead in the tiebreak when play was stopped due to rain.

Following a lengthy delay, Sabalenka regained control, allowing her opponent only one point to take the set 7-6(4).

“Before the rain delay, I had a lot of the momentum. She just hit a double fault. I felt I kind of had it there, and I was serving well and in a good rhythm. And then having to get off court and then losing that pretty quickly, only winning one point in the tiebreak, was a little tough,” Pegula told the WTA after her match.

“She’s No. 1 in the world for a reason. I gave her just a couple too many easy shots, and she went for it,” she added.

The World No. 4 was ruthless in the decider, breaking Sabalenka thrice to close out the match with a bagel.

“I said to myself, ‘Well, I’m going to have to do it the hard way.’ But I knew that if I did end up winning the match, I’d be really proud of myself with how I turned around the rain delay and losing the tiebreak. Now looking back, even though I would have loved to win it in two, I’m still just as happy being able to win in three, and not just in three, but with a really decisive 6-0 set,” Pegula said.

She was content with the 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-0 score. “You really want those pressure moments and those weird score lines and the ups and downs and the momentum swings.”

“Very rarely does someone just sweep through a tournament with no kind of problems. I don’t think that ever happens.”

This was Aryna Sabalenka’s second final-set bagel defeat in a row, making her the first World No. 1 to lose two consecutive tournaments in such fashion. She had a similar crash-out in the quarterfinal of the French Open, when Diana Shnaider staged a miraculous 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 comeback.

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As for Jessica Pegula, she is chasing her third title on grass, having won in Berlin in 2024 and in Bad Homburg in 2025. She faces Linda Nosková in Sunday’s title clash.