In a match that could only be described as a rollercoaster of raw emotion and unrelenting grit, Jessica Pegula pulled off a jaw-dropping comeback against defending champion Danielle Collins at the Charleston Open on April 4, 2025. The quarter-final clash between these two American powerhouses had the crowd at the Family Circle Tennis Center on the edge of their seats, as Pegula, the world No. 4 and top seed, turned a seemingly hopeless deficit into a triumphant march to the semifinals. What began as a one-sided thrashing morphed into a testament to resilience, with Pegula ultimately prevailing 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 in a contest that showcased both the fragility and ferocity of elite tennis.
The opening set was a masterclass in dominance—from Collins. The 31-year-old Floridian, riding an eight-match winning streak at Charleston, came out swinging with her trademark aggression. Her powerful baseline game and pinpoint accuracy left Pegula scrambling, unable to find her footing on the green clay. Collins raced to a 6-1 lead, dropping just one game and breaking Pegula’s serve twice. By the time the second set began, she had pushed her advantage to 2-0, and whispers of an upset began rippling through the stands. Pegula, fresh off a runner-up finish in Miami and a season that’s seen her win 22 of 28 matches, looked uncharacteristically rattled. “I was playing horrible,” she admitted later, reflecting on those early moments when nothing seemed to click.
But then, something shifted. Down a set and a break, Pegula dug deep, tapping into the mental toughness that’s made her a mainstay in the top echelon of the sport. She began to find her rhythm, her groundstrokes growing sharper, her movement more assured. The second set became a battle of wills, with Pegula clawing her way back to level the score at 3-3. Collins, who’d been so commanding, started to falter under the pressure of Pegula’s relentless counterpunching. “I just told myself to keep fighting, to figure it out,” Pegula said post-match, her voice carrying the weight of someone who’d stared defeat in the face and refused to blink. She broke Collins’s serve again and held firm to take the set 6-3, forcing a decider that few could have predicted after the opening frame.
What followed was nothing short of extraordinary. The third set was a Pegula clinic—clinical, ruthless, and utterly dominant. Collins, who’d looked invincible an hour earlier, couldn’t stem the tide. Pegula won 12 of the final 13 games, a statistic that sounds absurd until you consider the sheer force of her turnaround. She bagelled Collins 6-0 in the decider, a scoreline that underscored her ability to flip the script entirely. “Once I got going, I felt like I could take control,” Pegula explained, her confidence palpable as she described seizing the momentum and never letting go. For Collins, the defending champion who’d beaten Jelena Ostapenko in a gritty third-round match just a day prior, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Her dream of repeating last year’s title run—where she’d dispatched Daria Kasatkina in the final—came crashing down.
This wasn’t just a win for Pegula; it was a statement. Now in her third consecutive Charleston semifinal, she’s proving why she’s the top seed and a perennial contender. Her head-to-head record against Collins remains a perfect 6-0, a stat that looms large as she prepares to face either Qinwen Zheng or Ekaterina Alexandrova next. The victory also marks her eighth win in her last nine matches, a streak that includes a title at the ATX Open and a final in Miami. Yet, for all her success, Pegula remains grounded. “It’s about staying in the moment,” she said, hinting at the focus that’s carried her through a season of highs and near-misses.
For the Charleston faithful, this match was a microcosm of why tennis captivates: the unpredictability, the drama, the sheer human will on display. Pegula’s comeback wasn’t just about skill—it was about heart, about refusing to let a bad start define the story. As she moves deeper into the tournament, the question isn’t whether she can keep winning, but how far this newfound fire can take her. Collins, meanwhile, exits with her head held high, her reign as champion ended but ascended to the semifinals, but her Charleston legacy—eight straight wins before this loss—won’t soon be forgotten. For now, though, it’s Pegula’s moment, and the tennis world is buzzing about what’s next in this clay-court saga.