Jessica Pegula needed just a little over an hour on Easter Sunday to retain her title at the Credit One Charleston Open, besting the surprise unseeded finalist Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets
6-2, 6-2. Pegula, who trained in Hilton Head and on Daniel Island in the early stages of her career, became the first player to win back-to-back Charleston championships since the legendary Serena Williams accomplished the feat in 2013.
The semifinals featured three Americans: Pegula, Madison Keys and Iva Jovic. The first semifinal pitted the veteran Pegula, reaching her fourth consecutive COCO semifinal, against the budding teen superstar Jovic, playing in her first Charleston Open. Jovic, who has rapidly ascended the rankings to world No. 16, was ranked 150th at this same time last year. Pegula used her signature crafty play and uncanny ability to redirect power to get past Jovic in three hard-fought sets. 2019 Charleston champion Madison Keys rode her power game to the semis, with straight sets victories in her first two matches and a three-set win over former Charleston champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the quarters. However, the upstart Starodubtseva frustrated Keys with a high kick serve and pushed her around the court, dictating points on her way to a decisive 6-1, 6-4 win.
The savvy Pegula handled Starodubtseva’s serve well, often directing it for down-the-line winners. Although Pegula made quick work of Starodubtseva in the final, her path getting there was anything but easy. The defending champion and world No. 5 was pushed to the limit in her first two matches, surviving and advancing past a feisty Yulia Putinseva of Kazakhstan in her opening round match, an epic three-setter that lasted over three hours and tested the veteran’s resolve, and narrowly besting the Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto in a third set tiebreaker in the round of 16. She also dropped the first set in her quarterfinal contest with Russian Diana Shnaider before taking the next two.
American Duo Dominates Doubles Championship
In doubles, the American duo of Desirae Krawczyk and Caty McNally cruised to a straight sets victory over Magdalena Frech of Poland and Anna Bondar of Hungary. The Americans dominated, regularly ripping precise winners down the middle between their two opponents. Both players had won a previous doubles title in Charleston – McNally with Hailey Baptiste in 2021 and Krawczyk with Danielle Collins in 2023. Theirs was a last-minute fortuitous pairing, as Krawczyk’s original partner pulled out of the tournament.
Another COCO storyline involved the high number of seeded players who withdrew from the event due to injury or illness, including Charleston resident Emma Navarro, Amanda Anisimova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Elise Mertens and Magda Linette.
2026 marked the first year COCO has offered equal prize money to players, committing to a $2.5 million player compensation package. The singles winner received $354,345 and the doubles champions split a pot of $117,320. To put that in perspective, last year’s singles champion earned $164,000. For more information on tournament results, visit creditonecharlestonopen.com.
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