Jessica Pegula advances to Adelaide International quarter-finals

Second-seeded Jessica Pegula had a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over fellow American Bernarda Pera on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International.

Pera earned a spot in the main draw as a so-called lucky loser from qualifying and then upset former No. 2-ranked Paula Badosa in the opening round.

Pegula went 1-for-10 on break points in the first set as Pera’s powerful left-handed game led to the unseeded player’s early advantage.

But Pegula found her rhythm in the second set, where she hit 11 winners to six unforced errors.

Pegula will next face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow qualifier Katerina Siniakova 2-6., 6-3, 6-2.

Adelaide is among the last tune-up events for the Australian Open, which starts Sunday in Melbourne.

Top-seeded Elena Rybakina, last year’s Australian Open finalist and winner of the Brisbane International on Sunday, was scheduled to play later Wednesday.

Tommy Paul, the top-seeded player in the men’s draw in Adelaide, beat Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 6-3, 6-2. Jannik Sinner skipped official lead-in tournaments for the Australian Open and preferred to play at the Kooyong Classic exhibition in Melbourne, which also features No. 8-ranked Holger Rune and Andy Murray.

Playing his first match of the season on Wednesday, Sinner beat Marc Polmans 6-4, 6-0.

The 22-year-old Sinner finished 2023 by beating No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals in Turin and again a week later as he led Italy to the Davis Cup title in Malaga