Pegula Defends Charleston Open Title, Defeats Starodubtseva in Dominant Final

World No. 5 Jessica Pegula saved her sharpest tennis for last. After grinding through four consecutive three-set matches and logging approximately 11 hours on court across the week, Pegula dismantled Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-2, 6-2 in just 1 hour and 22 minutes to claim her second straight Credit One Charleston Open title on Sunday.

The victory made Pegula the first back-to-back champion at the event since Serena Williams won the then-named Family Circle Cup in 2012 and 2013, the latter of which was Williams' third overall Charleston crown. The tournament has historically produced a rotating cast of champions, with past multi-time winners including Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, and Justine Henin, making consecutive victories at this WTA 500 stop a genuine rarity.

Pegula, who reached the Charleston semifinals in both 2023 and 2024 before finally capturing the title in 2025, entered this week as a nine-time WTA champion. Sunday's final elevated her to at least ten career singles titles and marked her second trophy of 2026, following an earlier win in Dubai.

The road to the final was anything but clean. Pegula dropped the opening set in four consecutive matches before rallying to win each in three sets, a run of resilience that made her clinical display in the final all the more striking. "Thank you to the fans who've supported me throughout this whole week," Pegula said during the trophy presentation, acknowledging the crowd that sustained her through a physically punishing week.

In the final, Pegula limited unforced errors, moved forward when opportunities arose, and applied consistent depth on her forehand to prevent Starodubtseva from generating any rhythm. The 26-year-old Ukrainian, born February 17, 2000, arrived in Charleston as a rapidly ascending contender who had climbed from as low as No. 150 at the start of 2024 to a career-high of No. 79 by October of that year. Her 2025 season included a third-round run at Roland Garros as a qualifier and round-of-16 appearances at WTA 1000 Madrid and WTA 500 Ningbo. The Charleston final, her first at a WTA 500 event, still propelled her to a new career-high ranking of No. 53 on April 6, the morning after the defeat.

The tournament's 2026 edition carried its own landmark weight beyond the on-court result. The Credit One Charleston Open offered a $2.5 million prize purse, making it the first standalone WTA 500 event to match prize money at comparable men's ATP Tour events. The tournament, which began in 1973 as the Family Circle Cup at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island before relocating to Daniel Island's Credit One Stadium in 2001, is the oldest professional all-women's tennis tournament in America, drawing approximately 90,000 fans across its 48-player draw.

Pegula's back-to-back titles arrive precisely as the WTA Tour turns toward the European clay season, and her combination of stamina, consistency, and the ability to peak in a final position her as one of the more dangerous contenders heading into that stretch.