South Florida tennis players out of Miami Open with Jessica Pegula falling in quarterfinals
There will be no local South Florida hero winning the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.
Delray Beach’s Coco Gauff was ousted in the Round of 16 earlier this week and Boca Raton’s Jessica Pegula fell in Wednesday night’s quarterfinals in a three-setter to Ekaterina Alexandrova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Alexandrova, a 14th seed from Russia, rallied from a set down to pull the upset. Pegula, who has lived in Boca Raton since she was 13, is most identified with Buffalo because her parents own the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres.
In a slump, the 5th-seeded Pegula broke away from her longtime coach David Witt. She recently hired two new coaches, including Boca Raton’s Mark Merklein, who once served on the University of Florida’s staff.
On Miami Open’s Media Day, Pegula, who turned 30 in February, said she needed “a change.”
“I needed something new,’’ said Pegula, who lost in the second round in January’s Australian Open. “I wanted to challenge myself. I felt a little bit on auto-pilot the past year or so. I felt I was part of a process.
“What I did so well with David at the beginning was working on things and improving as a player constantly. You have to be improving as a player. I felt I lost a little bit of that, which sounds crazy because I still played well. I’m not the same person I was when I was 25.’’
Pegula had talked about being at Hard Rock Stadium many times as a Bills’ fan when they played the Dolphins and feels comfortable in the stadium.
More: Coco Gauff helps unveil refurbished tennis courts at Delray Beach’s Pompey Park
St. Petersburg’s Danielle Collins still alive
There still will be a Floridian in the women’s semis. In the night-card semifinal, Danielle Collins, a 30-year-old from St. Petersburg who is retiring after the year, will face Alexandrova, who upset No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the Round of 16 before rallying from a set down to defeat Pegula.
The opening semi-final will have three-time Miami Open champion Victoria Azarenka up against fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, highest ranked player left in the tournament at 4.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jessica Pegula loses in Miami Open quarterfinals to Ekaterina Alexandrova
