Pegula takes down Sasnovich again to reach Round 3 in Melbourne

American Jessica Pegula beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich at a Grand Slam for the second time in five months on Wednesday to move safely through to the third round of the Australian Open.

After beating Sasnovich 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the US Open in September, Pegula recorded a 6-2, 7-6(5) win in the same round in Melbourne to reach the last 32 for the ninth time in the last 10 majors.

Pegula still managed to close out a straight-sets victory under the Rod Laver Arena roof in 91 minutes after failing to serve out the win earlier at 6-2, 5-4.  

Words from the winner: Having just played her at the last hard-court Grand Slam, Pegula said she was ready for the challenge that World No.38 Sasnovich posed, a player who just missed out on the Top 32 seeds.

“… At the Open, I won 4 and 4, but I definitely felt like it easily could’ve been the other way,” Pegula told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs after the match. “So I was definitely ready for her to get streaky, to get hot, and I’m just glad that I was able to close it out in two [sets].

“Even though it seemed like I was cruising, I had a lot of tough services games, a lot of long return games as well. It toughens you up.”

More to come…