Pegula Masters Mirror Match Against Jovic in Dubai
Jessica Pegula turns stylistic similarities into straight-sets dominance over Iva Jovic at the 2026 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, setting up a fresh challenge with Clara Tauson. On the hard courts, experience edges out youthful fire in a tactical battle.
In the humid glow of Dubai’s Centre Court, Jessica Pegula faced a reflection of her own game in Iva Jovic during the third round of the 2026 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The top-20 American, building on her second-round win over Varvara Gracheva, absorbed the young challenger’s aggressive returns and heavy groundstrokes to claim a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Pegula’s composure under the desert lights turned potential deadlock into controlled momentum, advancing her to the quarterfinals against Clara Tauson.
Pegula had anticipated the test, labeling Jovic a “mini-me” for the shared traits of early ball-taking and directional shifts. Their recent Player’s Box podcast chat added layers, with Jovic citing Pegula as her biggest influence growing up. As rallies stretched on the medium-fast hard courts, Pegula navigated the familiarity, her mind sharpening to exploit subtle differences in pace and placement.
“I think it’s going to be a tough match for me. Iva, we’ve never played, but I feel like she kind of plays like a mini-me, so it’s going to be tough,” Pegula said to wtatennis.com Tuesday. “[Iva’s] going to have nothing to lose, and she’s been really hot, beating and winning a lot of matches this year.”
The opener hung in balance through six holds, both players landing 98% of first serves with precision that gripped the Plexicushion surface. Jovic’s improved delivery, honed from practice sessions and doubles outings with Pegula, curled wide to test her wingspan, but Pegula’s deep returns through the middle neutralized the threat. At 3-3, Pegula broke with a crosscourt backhand winner that grazed the sideline, Hawk-Eye’s confirmation drawing a stare from Jovic as the set tipped in 45 minutes.
Similarities fuel mental grind
Post-match, Pegula unpacked the echoes that made every point a self-check. Jovic’s backhand redirected pace sharply, forcing Pegula to stretch her footwork and vary depths with underspin slices to disrupt rhythm. Yet Pegula’s heavy topspin forehands, looped inside-out to open angles, pulled Jovic forward, turning admiration into a rivalry that tested resolve.
“The way that she plays, I definitely see some similarities,” Pegula told press Wednesday. “She tries to take the ball early, she tries to return really hard and through the middle. I think she likes to change the direction of the ball very well, especially off of her backhand.”
Early in the match, Pegula’s power occasionally betrayed her with mishits down-the-line, the ball sailing long under the weight of expectations from a season packed with majors. The crowd’s murmurs rose with each error, the air thick with the scent of victory hanging just out of reach. But she steadied, her experience channeling the pressure into focused redirects that echoed her own style back at the net.
Jovic held to open the second set, her underspin defenses digging in to save points, but Pegula shifted into a one–two pattern, pairing serve with aggressive returns to reel off five straight games. At 3-1, 0-40, Jovic clawed to deuce, erasing three break points with gritty crosscourt passes that skimmed the lines. Pegula’s backhand winner moments later sealed the shift, her unbroken service game—bolstered by five aces—locking down the decider as Jovic’s energy waned.
Returns tip the balance
The return game decided it, Pegula winning 41% of points on Jovic’s serve against Jovic’s 23% on hers, capitalizing late in sets where early wobbles had hinted at doubt. Jovic’s solid holds masked return vulnerabilities, her aggressive chips occasionally floating short on the hard bounce. Pegula’s deep placements forced errors, the difference amplifying as the match wore on under the floodlights.
Quarterfinals confirmed ✅
@JPegula beats Jovic in straight sets to progress in Dubai.
#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/uokcrLeZXT— wta (@WTA) February 18, 2026
“Her serve, honestly, is pretty good. I think it’s gotten a lot better, even from last year when I hit with her a few times or when I played her doubles as well. I see her making a lot of improvements.”
This win, in an all-American top-20 clash, highlighted how surface speed rewards tactical patience, Pegula’s adjustments preserving her ranking push amid the tour’s grind. The Dubai hard courts, with their predictable skid, amplified every curl and skid, from aces teasing the baseline to backhands carving space. As Jovic’s breakout year meets its first big hurdle, Pegula carries forward a rhythm forged in self-reflection.
Tauson brings new angles
Now Pegula meets Clara Tauson for the first time in WTA singles on Thursday, the Dane’s 6-4, 6-2 dispatch of Magda Linette signaling power that demands quick transitions. Tauson’s flatter strokes could flatten Pegula’s spin, forcing more down-the-line risks in the 1–2 exchanges. In the championships’ rising heat, Pegula eyes adaptation, her return aggression key to extending the run and redefining her hard-court edge.
The quarterfinal horizon pulses with possibility, Pegula’s composure a quiet force against Tauson’s climb. Dubai’s tempo, blending baseline wars with net rushes, sets the stage for shifts that could propel her deeper. With the calendar tilting toward spring peaks, this victory feels like reclaimed ground, momentum building one precise winner at a time.
