Pegula reaches Wuhan semifinal after three-set wins

Jessica Pegula rallied through three successive three-set wins at the Wuhan Open this week, surviving a pair of tense matches to reach her first Wuhan semifinal on Friday at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center in Wuhan, China. The sixth-seeded American beat Hailey Baptiste, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Katerina Siniakova in three-set matches to advance, the latest a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Siniakova in the quarterfinals.

Pegula's run began in the second round, where she withstood a late comeback from fellow American Hailey Baptiste. Pegula won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6), converting on her seventh match point after being broken twice while serving for the match in the final set. She followed that with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round, recovering from an early break in the decider to close out the match and reach the quarterfinals.

In Friday's quarterfinal, Siniakova took the opening set but Pegula answered with a bagel in the second and controlled the third, finishing the match in one hour and 39 minutes to seal her place in the last four. The string of victories extended Pegula's season total to 50 singles wins, her second campaign...