Pegula defeats Schneider to advance to the Washington Open tennis final

American Jessica Pegula, chasing her third title of the year, reached the Washington Open tennis final by defeating Russia’s Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.

Pegula, who won her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title at the Washington Open in 2019, advanced to her fourth final of the year.

The 32-year-old American, ranked third in the world and top seed at the tournament, will play in Sunday’s final against the winner between Japan’s Naomi Osaka, the third seed and four-time Grand Slam champion, and the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala, who are meeting for the first time.

Pegula defeated Eala in the 2025 Miami Open semifinals, the only meeting between the two so far, while she holds a 1-1 head-to-head record against Osaka. Pegula beat Osaka on clay in Rome in 2021 after losing to her in Beijing in 2019.

Pegula, who reached the Australian Open semifinals this year, is aiming for her 12th WTA title.

Shnaider took an early 5-2 lead, but Pegula rallied to win the next five games, closing out the first set in 45 minutes.

The Russian had a chance to hold serve and take the set at 5-3 in the eighth game, but Pegula broke back to lead 5-4, then held serve without losing a point to make it 5-5. Pegula broke again to lead 6-5 and closed out the set 7-5.

In the second set, Pegula broke Shnaider’s serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, then extended her advantage to 5-2 with another break in the seventh game.

Shnaider managed to break back in the eighth game to trail 5-3, but Pegula held serve to win the match in the tenth game, finishing 6-4 after 87 minutes.

Shnaider, who reached the French Open semifinals this year, missed an opportunity to claim her sixth WTA title, her first since winning in Monterrey last August.