Pegula to Play Kessler in All-American Austin Final

 Pegula to Play Kessler in All-American Austin Final

Top seed Jessica Pegula advanced to her second final of 2025 with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic at the WTA 250 ATX Open on Saturday. Pegula, who was a runner-up to Madison Keys at the Adelaide International in January, will now seek her seventh career singles title and her first since winning the WTA 1000 in Toronto last summer. On Sunday, she will face No. 5 seed McCartney Kessler in an all-American final.

Pegula's Journey to the Final

After a dominant first set, where Tomljanovic struggled with seven double faults and four service breaks, the Australian player fought back in the second set. Pegula had to dig deep to secure her 16th career singles final. In the end, the World No. 4 won in just under two hours.

"We were a little hit or miss with our serves today... It was pretty hot today, and the ball was flying, but once I started serving a little more consistently, smarter, that was the key," Pegula said after the match.

Pegula's first career WTA 250 title came at the Seoul Open in 2021. She has since added more titles to her resume but hasn’t won a U.S.-based event since her 2019 Citi Open victory in Washington, D.C. Last year, she was the runner-up in both Cincinnati and the U.S. Open.

"Every final is new... Being in the U.S., I want to show that I’m one of the best Americans, one of the best players in the world. Being able to do that on home soil is always special," Pegula added.

Kessler Stuns Minnen to Reach Second Final of 2025

In the other semifinal, McCartney Kessler battled past Belgian Greet Minnen 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour and 34 minutes to reach her second final of 2025. Kessler, who was ranked outside the Top 100 at this time last year, continues to build momentum after a remarkable rise in the rankings.

Kessler had to recover from losing early leads in both sets. She rallied from 3-1 down in the first set and after missing an opportunity to serve it out at 5-4, Kessler won back-to-back games to seal the set. She then broke Minnen’s serve twice in the second set to clinch the victory.

With this win, Kessler improves to 2-0 in career semifinals and is now just one match away from capturing her third WTA title in less than a year. The Hobart champion, who recently earned her first Top 10 win over Coco Gauff at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, will look to level her record against Pegula.

What’s at Stake

This will be the sixth all-American WTA singles final of the decade, with Pegula’s recent loss to Keys in the Adelaide final marking the fifth. Pegula and Kessler’s upcoming meeting will add to this trend and promises to be an exciting matchup between two of the United States' top players.

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This version of the article has been streamlined for clarity, while maintaining the key points of both players' performances. Let me know if you'd like to make any changes!