The Group 1 semifinalists for the Fage WTA Finals are set. Coco Gauff kept her hope alive with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Marta Kostyuk. Having sealed the win, her advancement hinged on compatriot Jess Pegula, who then sent the younger American home by defeating Linda Noskova 7-6(2) 4-6 7-5.
Gauff’s victory was hard fought, with two brief interventions for lower back issues. Asked about the injury, the 22-year-old was not worried. She told reporters: “Moving and stuff I was fine. It was just a little bit on the serve I was struggling and sometimes on the forehand. But it’s okay, I think it’s just one of those things that sometimes will go away. Definitely can play through it and stuff. I just have to keep it loose.” A mild pain killer and quick massage loosened the muscles enough that she could finish the match in two sets.
On the other side of the net, Kostyuk was struggling with her persistent wrist issues flaring up again. The Ukrainian told the media that she considered retiring from the match, but played through the pain out of respect for the fans who came out to see tennis. Afterwards, she told media: “In the beginning of the second set, I wasn’t sure how much longer I can play… And then, yeah, it was going very quick and my wrist started to feel really, really bad. I couldn’t really serve anymore. I couldn’t even hit the ball properly anymore so I started to miss a lot.”
Long term, Kostyuk did not express concerns about the wrist issue. The 24-year-old said: “We just have to change my serve. I served with different serve every day here, whatever I could serve with. Right now, I just need rest because just my muscles are tired now from the fact that I didn’t practice and suddenly I played three matches.”
After Gauff’s victory, the only way she could have still made the knockout round would have been for Pegula to lose to Noskova, but the world No. 5 brought some of her best tennis to Indian Wells Thursday. The American hit 35 winners and 28 unforced errors compared to the Czech’s 46 winners and 51 errors. Pegula served an unbelievable 16 aces in the match.
Asked about the impressive serve stat, Pegula used it as a chance to compliment her opponent: “I think even with 16 aces, it just goes to show how good of a player she is because I was still barely able to win the match. I try to keep her off balance. I try to keep her guessing a little bit on the serve. I think sometimes that’s why I got some free points there.”
The victory sets up Pegula’s first ever match against Mirra Andreeva. Looking ahead, the 32-year-old said: “We’ve only practiced with each other twice and we’ve never played, so I feel like we’re still a little unfamiliar with each other’s games, a bit in our ball… she’s been really efficient with her matches, maybe a little opposite of my matches so far here.”
Asked again about the hot-mic moment, Pegula sees only upside at this point, now that the air has been cleared between players personally: “The storyline writes itself. I guess we had to play each other and I think it maybe gets fans interested. Whatever works. I think it it’ll get people excited about the match.” The two will face each other Saturday.
