Jessica Pegula continues to be tough on her compatriots in 2026 – even her closest friends and fellow podcast hosts. Today the Buffalo native took out Madison Keys in an all-American quarterfinal, 7-6(5), 7-6(8) to reach the semifinals at the Berlin Tennis Open.
Pegula improves to 3-2 lifetime against Keys, and 2-0 against the 2025 Australian Open champion in 2026.
Pegula, who won the Berlin title from five championship points down in 2024 (d. Kalinskaya), improves to 30-7 on the season and 8-2 lifetime in Berlin.
She’s now 7-0 against fellow Americans thus far in 2026.
“It’s really tough with Maddy,” Pegula said after battling through a tense affair in hot conditions on Friday. Pegula needed four match points to finally close the door on her friend and rival.
In the first set she set the tone with a backhand return winner into the open court that completed her rally from a break down at the 45-minute mark.
“I tried to do the same thing on the one match point, but I didn’t quite commit,” Pegula later said of her aggressive tactics. “With her, you really have to commit to what you’re gonna do, because, as you saw, on a couple of the match points I had, she just blasted a couple winners by me.
“It can flip so quickly, and Maddy’s a great grass pro player – great server, big ball striker.”
Pegula ripped a forehand winner down the line to claim a break for 4-2 in the second set, but Keys battled back and forced a tiebreak.
Keys annihilated a return to save Pegula’s third match point, but the fourth went Pegula’s way as she forced an error from Keys to end the pair’s fifth career clash.
After the match Pegula said she was thrilled to get off the court early on a very warm day in the German capital.
“It felt like a Florida summer today,” she said. ”All of a sudden, out of nowhere, it was so hot. I’m, like, in a scuba suit right now.
“I’d rather battle in the heat, and then just be done with the day, than have to deal with any rain delays.”
In Friday’s second quarterfinal Linda Noskova hammered past Paula Badosa, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. The No.8 seed saved all seven break points she faced and broke Badosa four times to pull away to victory in 68 minutes.
Eala Keeps Running Hot
Grass is proving to be a favorable surface for Alexandra Eala. The Filipina trailblazer has won nine of ten on the surface across all levels this year, and she’s powered into the semifinals in Berlin on the strength of back-to-back Top 10 wins.
Eala backed up her 7-5, 6-4 win over No.2 seed Elena Rybakina on Friday with a 6-3, 6-4 takedown of Elina Svitolina.
Eala, back up to No.30 in the live rankings, is now 6-4 lifetime against the WTA’s Top 10.
She had a double-break 5-2 lead in the second set before Svitolina powered back to close to 5-4. After falling behind 0-30 in her final service game the southpaw won the final four points, closing the win with a courageous crosscourt backhand winner.
Noskova won her only previous meeting with Eala, 6-2, 6-0 earlier this year in the round of 16 at Indian Wells.