Jessica Pegula saves match points to stun Emma Raducanu in Beijing

Jessica Pegula pulled off an escape act in Beijing Sunday when she saved three match points and stormed past Emma Raducanu 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 to reach the China Open fourth round.

The number 5 seed needed two hours and 21 minutes to complete the turnaround — a victory that revived memories of her fighting in last year’s Berlin final.

It was in that final that the American saved five championship points against Anna Kalinskaya before lifting the trophy. On Sunday, history seemed to loop again. This time it was Raducanu who had her chances and Pegula clung on with defiance to turn a near-defeat into a resilient victory.

“That was a crazy match,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “That was really intense. But I got myself back into the tiebreak and just wanted keep pressure on. When she hit the double fault [leading 5-4], I knew I was still playing some good tennis. It was right there, it was really, really close. And to be honest, I think I got a little lucky on those two backhand winners [both down match point]. But I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.”

The victory tilts Pegula’s head-to-head record against Raducanu to 3-1, a measure of satisfaction given she squandered match points against the Briton in Eastbourne last summer.

Raducanu, meanwhile, will be left ruing another missed opportunity. It was just last week in Seoul when the former US Open champion held a 5-2 second set lead and three match points against Barbora Krejcikova before fading away in three sets.

In Beijing, the story was hauntingly familiar — a fast start, a tiebreak lead, and then hesitation at the moment of truth. She now has lost six of her past seven tiebreaks dating all the way back to June 2025.

Pegula, who advances to the China Open last 16 for a second consecutive year, will now face World No. 23 Marta Kostyuk, who eased past Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 6-2.