Pick details
WTA Charleston Prediction: Jessica Pegula vs Diana Shnaider
12:00 PM EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Jessica Pegula -333 / Diana Shnaider +210
Jessica Pegula vs Diana Shnaider Preview
Jessica Pegula withstood another stern challenge to reach the Charleston quarterfinals for the fourth straight season. Pegula who came off a three-hour battle against Yulia Putintseva, was stretched into another three-set barnburner against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and survived in a final set tiebreak.
Pegula was outplayed for most of the first set, where she held her serve once. In the second set, the American managed to steady the ship and recovered from a slow start to break Cocciaretto’s serve twice in succession before sealing the set 6-1. Pegula was two games away from defeat in the deciding set, but rallied from 2-4 down to force a tiebreak. In the breaker, Pegula dominated, winning it 7-1.
Diana Shnaider, meanwhile, defeated Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 27 minutes to reach the Charleston quarterfinals for the first time. Shnaider put in a clinic as she won a tightly contested first set 6-3 in 55 minutes. The Russian was in a league of her own in the second set, where she overpowered the Canadian without dropping a single game.
Shnaider hit 1 ace and 3 double faults in the victory. She landed 65% of first serves in play and won 76% of first serve points (25/33). Shnaider won 56% of second serve points (10/18) and saved both break points she faced on her serve. Before this round, Shnaider beat Katie Volynets in a classic.
Jessica Pegula vs Diana Shnaider Head-To-Head
Pegula and Shnaider have met twice. Pegula won both meetings in straight sets. This will be their first match on clay.Jessica Pegula vs Diana Shnaider Prediction
Pegula is playing with house money, but she’s been so resilient and deserves huge credit for the way she weathered the storm. She looked down and out in her first two matches against extremely tricky opponents on this surface and the mental toughness to fight back from a break down in the final set was exemplary. Pegula still carried the edge in consistency and court IQ when compared to the rest of the field in Charleston, but I still think she’s at a disadvantage again here after two taxing matches, and not to mention that she’ll be up against that lefty spin forehand of Shnaider who is a fine shot maker. This won’t be comfortable for the top seed.
Nur Said's Pick: Diana Shnaider in three sets
