Indian Wells, 11 November (H.S.): Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova produced an impressive performance on Tuesday, defeating Coco Gauff in straight sets to book her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals. Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula kept her hopes of reaching the last four alive with a victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

The Czech Republic’s eighth-seeded Noskova defeated Gauff 6-3, 6-3 in their Group 1 encounter. Capitalising on Gauff’s inconsistent serve, Noskova broke her opponent’s serve four times in the opening set to claim it 6-3.

Noskova secured another crucial break early in the second set before maintaining her advantage. She eventually sealed the contest with her ninth ace of the match, confirming her place in the semi-finals.

Speaking after the victory, Noskova said, “I’m very happy. Every win is important in this competition. Coco is a formidable opponent, so I had to be prepared for every challenge that came my way today.”

She added, “You have to play every point against Coco because she can come back at any moment with her serve and fighting spirit. I felt I played really well to put her under pressure.”

Noskova had also defeated Ukraine’s Kostyuk in her opening group-stage match on Sunday.

Meanwhile, American Jessica Pegula defeated Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5 in a closely contested encounter, keeping her semi-final ambitions on track. The defeat brought Kostyuk’s campaign to an end, leaving Gauff and Pegula to compete for the remaining semi-final spot from Group 1.

Pegula had lost her opening match to Gauff on Sunday but bounced back impressively on Tuesday to overcome the Ukrainian.

After the match, Pegula said, “I think I’m playing well. My match against Coco was of a very high standard, and today’s match was also a great contest.”

Describing Kostyuk’s style of play as particularly challenging, she said, “She is very difficult to play against because you never know what she is going to do next. Suddenly, she starts hitting powerful shots, comes to the net, becomes aggressive on returns or begins serving exceptionally well. That is what makes playing against her so difficult.”

The 32-year-old Pegula dominated the opening set, breaking Kostyuk’s serve in the first and seventh games to take it 6-2.

The second set, however, developed into a much more competitive affair. The opening stages witnessed four consecutive service breaks, before Kostyuk managed to hold her serve and take a 3-2 lead.

The Ukrainian subsequently had an opportunity to break Pegula’s serve in the next game but failed to convert her break point. Pegula held her serve to level the score at 3-3. Both players then held serve in each of the next four games.

The decisive breakthrough came in the 11th game, when Pegula broke Kostyuk’s serve. She converted her fourth break point to take a 6-5 lead and then held her own serve to close out the match. The victory was sealed when Kostyuk’s forehand sailed beyond the baseline.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar