Jessica Pegula maintained her hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Finals, after defeating Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5, yesterday (Tuesday), in the first group.
The American had begun her campaign by losing to her compatriot Coco Gauff in three sets, but she quickly regained her balance and presented a coherent performance to outperform Kostyuk, who participated in the tournament in the last moments as a substitute for world number one Elena Rybakina, after the Kazakh player withdrew due to illness.
Pegula imposed her rhythm from the beginning, breaking her opponent's serve in the opening game, before adding a second break and winning the first set easily. She continued her momentum in the second set with another break in the first game, but Kostyuk held on to her chances, and the two players exchanged breaks twice in a more competitive set.
As the set approached its end, Pegula regained the initiative with a decisive break of serve, before deciding the match in her favor.
This victory represented a turning point for Pegula after she stumbled in the opening match, while it represented a great disappointment for Kostyuk, who was eliminated from the race to qualify for the semi-finals.
The world number 10 entered the match suffering from a series of 5 consecutive defeats, in addition to an injury to her right wrist that affected her performance since the start of the hard court season.
Although Kostyuk had won the previous two matches against Pegula this year in Brisbane and Madrid, she did not succeed this time in regaining the level that gave her superiority in these two matches.
After suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon during the Stockholm Open Tennis Championship last October, Holger Röne breathed a sigh of relief after he passed his first match in this year's edition of the tournament without any problems, following his victory over Belgian Zizo Burgess by a score of 6-3, 6-4, yesterday, Tuesday.
The Dane, who had previously reached fourth place in the world, had been out of action for 11 months due to the injury he suffered in the semi-finals of the same tournament, which led to his decline to 406th place in the world rankings.
Rooney returned to competitions last September, and since then, he has achieved 5 victories in 9 matches he played.
The 23-year-old player said: “Returning to Stockholm after what happened last year has a special meaning for me. I prefer to focus on the good memories,” he said, stressing that he had regained his physical fitness.
He added: “I spent a whole year working on regaining my fitness. “I feel good, I move smoothly on the field, and I try to improve my level from one match to the next.”
Later today, Wednesday, Roone will meet Serbian Miomir Katsmanovic.
The German team, Bayern Munich, defeated its French host, Paris Saint-Germain, with a score of 2-1, in the fourth round of the Women’s European Football League.
Bayern succeeded in taking the lead in the 29th minute through an own goal accidentally scored by Polish player Katarzyna Kiedersink against her team Saint-Germain.
Then German international striker Clara Buhl added a second goal in the 40th minute, before Polish Polina Dudek reduced the gap with a goal for Saint-Germain from a penalty kick in the 65th minute.
Bayern Munich raised its score to 8 points in second place behind Spanish champion Barcelona, which has 9 points before facing England's Arsenal in the same round tomorrow, Thursday.
As for Paris Saint-Germain, it has 5 points in ninth place, and suffered its first loss.
In another match, Roma of Italy won 2-1 over Servette Chinoy of Switzerland, where Dutchwoman Cailee Van Doren scored the goal to advance Roma in the 25th minute, then Swiss Alia Belkarim added the second goal in the 34th minute, and Servette's only goal came with a goal by Italian player Gloria Marinelli from a penalty kick in the 74th minute.
Roma raised its score to 4 points in tenth place, while Servette has 3 points in fourteenth place.
