Pegula advances to Austin final with Matthew McConaughey watching
Jessica Pegula battled past Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets on Saturday in Austin. Pegula will face either McCartney Kessler or Greet Minnen in the final.
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American Jessica Pegula reached the final of the Austin Open by beating Australian wild card Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 at the Westwood Country Club on Saturday afternoon.
Actor Matthew McConaughey, a Texas native and University of Texas-Austin alum, was in attendance.
“I definitely did not have that on my bingo card, seeing him like 30 minutes before the match,” Pegula said during her on-court interview. “I was like, ‘That’s pretty cool, but now I’ve gotta win… Crap. I know he’s always supporting a lot of sporting events I always see him tweeting at Tommy Paul, so maybe now I’ll get an @ shoutout, maybe.”
Sure enough, she did.
Pegula, ranked No 4, will for for the title against the winner of a match between Belgian Greet Minnen and American McCartney Kessler, the No 5 seed.
Austin’s top seed previously defeated Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus (6-3, 3-2 ret.), Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz (6-1, 6-3) and Russian Anna Blinkova (6-2, 6-2).
Tomljanovic, ranked No 111, made her run to the semi-finals at the expense of American Katie Volynets, the No 7 seed (7-6 (3), 7-5), Jodie Burrage (4-6, 6-3, 6-0) and Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara (7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8)).
Austin WTA 250, other semi-final result:
- Greet Minnen vs. McCartney Kessler
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