Jessica Pegula's 2026 Charleston Open seemingly wasn't supposed to be easy. After sliding past Yulia Putintseva in her first match at the event, the American struggled at the start of her third-round match against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Cocciaretto took set one 6-1, and Pegula looked as lost as she did at times against Putintseva, when the American, at times, appeared to struggle with some kind of injury. Pegula isn't one to quit easily; however, she battled through and toughed out the match.
This explains the second-set turnaround against the 14-seed Cocciaretto, as the top seed took the final five games, taking the set by the reverse score of the first, through cool and calm shot-making and magnificent returning. She was playing like herself again, though she isn't normally prone to such deep dips in form.
Jessica Pegula holds on against Elisabetta Cocciaretto at the 2026 Charleston Open
Which, of course, made the beginning of the third set more confusing. After pushing Cocciaretto to hold serve to lead 1-0, Pegula's serve was pounced on by the WTA No. 43 as if the rankings were quite the opposite. Instead of defending her 2025 title in Charleston, Pegula quickly struggled to hold serve and, in fact, couldn't.
Cocciaretto compounded the break by holding with relative ease as Pegula's number of unforced errors kept mounting. The American didn't seem hurt; she was simply off her form in a way rarely seen. The question suddenly wasn't whether she could come back from a set down to win the match, but if she could win a game in the third and final set at all.
She would. Pegula regained her form in the fourth game and the sixth game, holding each as if she had no problems previously in the match. She kept herself within one break of getting back on serve, pressing the nerves of Cocciaretto to keep holding. She couldn't, leading 4-2, though, further proving the brilliancy of the sport of tennis.
When the momentum appears to be going one way, a match can change quickly. Jessica Pegula did that, but needed to consolidate the hold. She did.
After trading holds, the match went to a tie-break that had no drama. Pegula took the first point on Cocciaretto's serve, and the American raced to a 7-1 tie-break win. She once again proved difficult to defeat, not because she can't be physically underwhelming, but because she is mentally elite.
Jessica Pegula will next face Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals. Only Pegula has previously won the Charleston Open, though Shnaider is playing exceedingly well and inching closer to doing so in 2026.