Pegula continues dominance to win Austin Open, beats Kessler in final

Top seed Jessica Pegula defeated No 5 seed McCartney Kessler 7-5, 6-2 to win the Austin Open trophy at the Westwood Country Club on Sunday afternoon.

The title is Pegula’s first of the season and first since she won the Cincinnati Open in August 2024. The American dropped just one set all week, living up to expectations that she would romp to the title as the only top-10 player in the draw.

Kessler rues missed chances

It was a final of two halves, with Kessler the better player over the opening 10 games of the match and looking like she would pose the first serious threat to Pegula this week in Austin.

The lower-ranked American held her serve easier and challenged Pegula on her own, getting break point at 5-5 in the opening set. However, a batch of wayward shots saw Kessler miss out on a break in the 11th game. She would then go on to be broken in her next service game, losing the set 7-5 thanks to an influx of unforced errors.

Kessler bounced back quickly in the second set, breaking Pegula in the opening game. The top seed extinguished any hope immediately, however, winning the next four games for a 4-1 lead. She went on to close out the set 6-2, bagging her seventh career title.

Earlier in the tournament, Pegula, ranked No 4, beat Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus (6-3, 3-2 ret.), Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz (6-1, 6-3), Russian Anna Blinkova (6-2, 6-2) and Australian wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic (6-1, 4-6, 6-3).

Kessler, ranked No 56, defeated Swiss lucky loser Viktorija Golubic (6-2, 7-5), Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa (5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4)), Romanian Sorana Cirstea (5-7, 6-4, 6-1) and Belgian Greet Minnen (7-5, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Austin tournament.