Jessica Pegula has won her first title of the season at the WTA 250 tournament in Austin after beating fellow American McCartney Kessler 7-5 6-2.
When the week started, the 2024 US Open runner-up - who was the No. 1 seed at the tournament - was widely regarded as the top favorite for the title.
And the world No. 4 met the expectations after losing only one set in five matches played en route to winning the title.
For Pegula, this is her seventh WTA title.
Earlier this year, she also came close to winning Adelaide in the first week of 2025 but lost to Madison Keys in the final.
On the other side, Kessler - who became a WTA champion in Cleveland in August and also won Hobart in January - fell short of landing her third title in the last six months.
How Pegula overcame No. 5 seed Kessler?
After starting the match with an early 2-0 lead, the top seed got broken in back-to-back games and found herself 2-4 down.
However, just when it started to seem that the No. 5 seed would win the first set and come a set away from pulling off an upset in the Austin final, the 2024 US Open finalistresponded with breaks in the eighth and 12th games to overturn the deficit and clinch the opener.
After losing the first set in a devastating way, Kessler started the second by earning a break in the very first game.
But she failed to build any momentum on that as she lost her serve three times in the rest of the set and the No. 1 seed ended up completing a two-set win.
Meanwhile, Kessler's week in Austin still isn't completed - she still has the women's doubles final to play.
After some rest, the 25-year-old will return to the court with Zhang Shuai to meet Anna Blinkova and Yue Yuan.
