Jessica Pegula won the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open after defeating Sofia Kenin in Sunday's final, 6-3, 7-5. It's Pegula's second title clinched this year and, interestingly, the first ever claimed on a clay surface.

Top seed gets the job done after bumpy road

The American was the top seed of the main draw in Charleston, however, there were many voices just before the start of the event questioning if the American would show up in South Carolina. Pegula had played an extremely busy schedule since the Middle East swing, followed by a victorious run in the WTA 250 event in Austin and the Sunshine Double campaign played until the very end, concluded with the lost final at the Miami Open last Saturday. This did not discourage the world number 4 from kicking off her clay season in Charleston though, and as it occurred, it was a great decision to take. She started with two routine victories over Irina Shymanovich and Ajla Tomljanovic in straight-set matches without any stories to underline.

The first challenge came up in the round of 16 when Pegula faced the latest Charleston champ – Danielle Collins. The fellow American had not achieved anything significant this season, getting her first top-50 win since Wimbledon 2024 just there in Charleston during her round-of-16 encounter against Jelena Ostapenko. Her form was seemingly going upwards though, gaining more and more confidence in matches against lower-rated opponents. This resulted in an astonishing start to the match against Pegula, where Collins was firing up the shots like in her best times last year, winning the first set 6-1 and getting an early break in the second set. Pegula needed to readjust her game plan, trying to wait out Collins' hot spot and slow down her opponent's game. She recalibrated her tactics to keep Collins deeper out of the court as much as possible, denying her access to her weapons. Pegula came back from 1-6, 0-2, raising her level to her usual consistency, breaking Collins from that point onward, and winning the decisive set 6-0, giving no chance to her discouraged opponent.

The semifinal against Ekaterina Alexandrova was also a tough one, but with quite different plots. Pegula started very strong, quickly winning the first five games and the opening set 6-2. Something broke in her game midway through the second set, as she lost two service games in a row to trail that part of the match, and was also a break down in the third set, losing 2-4. It was another comeback from Pegula, who found the right gears when needed and scraped through to the final after very competitive and tough decisive games, crossing the finish line with a score of 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

Surprising final run by Kenin

While Pegula, as the top seed and possibly the first WTA player that comes to mind when thinking of consistency, was no surprise to make the final, barely anyone could have predicted Sofia Kenin’s run to the title match before the week in Charleston.

Despite being the finalist at Roland Garros in 2020, Kenin's history of performances on clay is far from perfect, as she hasn’t managed to post a winning season on the surface since 2020. Her current form also didn’t suggest she was among the favorites in the bottom half of the draw where she was placed. Her 2025 season had not been miserable up to that point, with some bright moments like the quarterfinal at WTA 1000 Dubai. However, her last outing before Charleston was a horrendous one, as she lost to Coco Gauff with a double bagel, showing a very poor performance and not much commitment during the tournament in Miami.

The week in Charleston marked a total turnaround for Kenin, who showed exceptional performance throughout the event and truly deserved her place in the final. It was surely not a fluke run earned due to a lucky draw, as the 2020 Australian Open champ had to face some really established names on her way. The second-round win against Belinda Bencic was a significant upset. Kenin was rated at 2.70 odds before the match with the Swiss, who had started the season strongly. The 6-0, 6-3 beatdown was one of the biggest surprises of the week, and also Bencic's second consecutive tough loss, which may indicate she ran out of fuel after a demanding and successful hard court campaign.

Kenin’s path didn’t get easier - she next faced last year’s runner-up and 5th seed Daria Kasatkina, also winning in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(7). Another notable name came in the quarterfinal: Anna Kalinskaya, who had made a huge upset over Madison Keys in the round of 16. Kenin earned another win, moving through 6-4, 6-3 into the semifinal, where she was to face her in-form compatriot Amanda Anisimova. The current WTA 1000 Doha champion, however, was unable to compete, struggling with a lower back injury and withdrawing after just 7 games played. That meant Kenin surprisingly advanced into the final - even more shockingly, without losing a single set in the whole event.

Pegula forces Kenin's collapse in the final

The final was a rollercoaster full of momentum swings. Pegula opened the match by applying instant pressure on Kenin, who looked vulnerable in nearly every service game from the start. This resulted in an easy 6-3 win in the opening set for Pegula, but the roles quite reversed later on. Kenin regained confidence on serve, putting her opponent under more pressure and dominating the second set, looking close to forcing a decider. However, Pegula found enough left in the tank to bring the energy that allowed her to return to playing solid, all-rounded tennis. This made Kenin struggle to close the set, which slipped away from her, as the new Charleston champion reversed the second set from being 1-5 and 15-40 down (!). After failing to convert any of three set points on Pegula’s serve and losing her own serve afterward, Kenin's game collapsed, dropping the last 10 points of the match.

Ranking movements

Jessica Pegula capitalizes on her victorious run in Charleston, which lifts her back into the 3rd spot in the WTA rankings, overtaking Coco Gauff as the highest-ranked American. Kenin gains 10 places, moving up to 34th. Pegula also caught up to the top pack in the WTA Race. Due to her exceptional run of form in Miami and Charleston, she strengthens her 5th place there and sits just 5 points behind 4th-ranked Iga Swiatek. Amanda Anisimova moves up to 6th, leading a pack of players separated by marginal differences, all contending for WTA Finals spots at this point of the season. Another semifinalist - Ekaterina Alexandrova - joins this conversation, moving up to 12th place. On the opposite end, Danielle Collins slips out of the top 30. The American drops most of the points gained for her Charleston title last year, and despite a decent quarterfinal run, she loses 10 spots, moving down to 32nd.