Yuliia Starodubtseva had quite the Charleston Open. Win or lose the final, she could come away with a lot more confidence than when she entered the event after making her first semifinal at any WTA event.
The issue was that she was facing Jessica Pegula, who makes every opponent work extra hard to beat her. In the end, Starodubtseva earned her way to the final, but Pegula earned her way to the title.
Pegula had an interesting tournament. She had to go three sets in every match leading to the final, sometimes playing brilliantly and many times not. She isn't known for such dips in form, which proves how mentally tough she is to defend her Charleston crown while not being at her best.
Jessica Pegula wins second straight Charleston Open title by defeating Yuliia Starodubtseva in the 2-26 final
In the first set, each player traded holds through the first four games, the Ukrainian showing off her potent kick serve and ability to move her opponent from side to side on her forehand. Pegula was holding with ease, too, however, something she hasn't been doing throughout the tournament.
The WTA No. 5 got the break in game five, though, and then consolidated the hold to take what seemed like an insurmountable first-set lead. In previous matches, her leads appeared tenuous because of her serve issues, but that wasn't the case in the early part of the final.
She was helped by Starodubtseva, who created many more unforced errors than she had in her previous matches at the Charleston Open. She was beating herself as much as Pegula was taking the match from her. To prove that further, Pegula got another break to jump ahead 5-2 and on serve to finish the set.
After such a tough run of matches at the event, the American had to feel freedom in a match suddenly going her way so easily. The only thing in her way was making sure she didn't relax too much.
For the 26-year-old Yuliia Starodubtseva, a player who started her career late because she couldn't afford to begin any earlier, she had already shown she could be a real threat on clay. Her making a decent showing at the French Open is a great possibility. Her playing so poorly in the final had to be frustrating, though.
After taking set one 6-2, Jessica Pegula got a break of Starodubtseva in the first game of set two by going back to what was working. She continued to hit to the Ukrainian's backhand deep on the court, and Starodubtseva kept hitting the ball back into the net.
After facing a couple of break points herself, Pegula was able to hold to get to 2-0 and then broke Starodubtseva again. No one was left doubting the outcome at this point, but only wondering if the Ukrainian might win a game in the second set. She surprisingly would after fending off Pegula's serve in a 12-minute break to get to 1-5.
While Starodubtseva would get one more hold, it would be the last game she would take. Jessica Pegula held at 5-2 to defend her 2025 Charleston Open crown.