Berlin WTA 2026: Pegula vs Noskova Final After Sabalenka Upset
Pegula raced through a 6-0 final set to beat Sabalenka in Berlin. Sabalenka’s grass prep stalls after French Open QF exit, while Noskova reached her first final of 2026.
Pegula crushes World No. 1 Sabalenka 6-0 in 3rd to reach Berlin final...
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka’s Wimbledon warm-up hit a snag as Jessica Pegula knocked her out 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0 in the Berlin Open semis.
Pegula now meets Linda Noskova in the final. The Czech 8th seed ended Alexandra Eala’s run with a 6-2, 6-4 win over the Filipino.
Sabalenka, who went out in the French Open quarterfinals, couldn’t find her rhythm after a sluggish start. Pegula pounced on an early break and took the first set.
A rain delay followed, then Sabalenka battled back to win the second set on a tiebreak. But Pegula regained control and stormed through the third set 6-0.
“I told myself after I ended up losing that second-set tiebreak that before the rain delay, I had a lot of momentum. She just hit a double fault. I felt like I kind of had it there, and I was serving well,” said 2024 Berlin champion Pegula.
“I was in a good rhythm, and then having to get off court and losing that pretty quickly - only winning one point in the tiebreak was a little tough.
“But she's No. 1 in the world for a reason, and I feel like I gave her too many easy shots and she went for it, and that's just what happens.”
All four of Sabalenka’s Grand Slam titles, including her latest at the 2025 US Open, have come on hard courts. She’s still hunting a first Wimbledon title after reaching the semis there three times.
She lost this year’s Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina, 12 months after finishing runner-up to Madison Keys.
Noskova came out firing, grabbing an early break to wrap up the first set quickly. Eala had no answers in the second as Noskova closed out the win.
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