Pegula defends crown, wins back-to-back titles at Charleston Open

The 2026 Credit One Charleston Open championship was a classic study in compare and contrast. 

On one side of the court and standing in the spotlight was defending COCO champion Jessica Pegula. She entered the April 5 showdown at Credit One Stadium as the No. 1 seed in the tournament. She had a WTA-best 23 victories and the No. 5 world ranking when she was greeted by a thunderous ovation as she prepared to add a new chapter in her eighth season on Daniel Island. Pegula sported a 278-132 career record and entered the Charleston event with nearly $24 million in prize money. 

On the other side of the net was 26-year-old Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine, who made her Daniel Island debut a few days earlier. She was the No. 1 seed in the COCO qualifier but advanced into the main draw before play began. Starodubtseva was unseeded on the first day of play on Daniel Island and was seeking her first WTA title on the final day. She owned seven victories this year and entered the championship with a World No. 89 ranking. She had a career record of 23-28 and won nearly $1.8 million in career earnings. 

Starodubtseva has not seen her family in Ukraine, devastated by war, in four years. She used GoFundMe and worked as a tennis pro in Westchester, New York, to jumpstart her career. 

“There is an inside joke that I’m comfortable on green clay because I coached on it for a year,” Starodubtseva quipped after defeating McCartney Kessler in straight sets in a quarterfinal match. “After I graduated (from Old Dominion), I went to New York to coach at a country club.” 

Pegula played four three-set matches during her week in the Lowcountry and earned the temporary title of “Three-Set Jess.” 

“It was a lot of hard work: 11 hours and 22 minutes – I was told on the court,” Pegula said. “(With) doubles, it might have been more.” 

Pegula’s time and effort paid dividends as she defeated Starodubtseva, 6-2, 6-2, in front of an appreciative Easter crowd on what turned out to be a sunny and festive day as the WTA was poised to crown its first clay court champ of the spring season. 

Pegula became the first player to win back-to-back titles in Charleston since Serena Williams doubled down in 2012 and in 2013. 

“Incredible. Yeah, incredible feeling back-to-back,” Pegula said. “I wasn’t really thinking too far ahead as if I could do it, but now that I’m here, I’m very happy.” 

The match was moved up an hour because of impending and threatening weather, which never surfaced during the match. Starodubtseva struck early as she gained a 2-1 lead in the first set. 

Pegula took control and rallied to win the next five games to win 6-2. Pegula pushed her streak to 10 games in the second set in Sunday’s final before Starodubtseva avoided a bagel in the second set. 

Pegula defeated Starodubtseva but was impressed by her talent, determination, and story. 

“My coach was kind of telling me about it earlier today,” Pegula said. “I kind of knew a little bit, but I didn’t really know exactly, and he was like, ‘Oh, she has an amazing story.’ Just the fact she played at Old Dominion and then was teaching tennis for a year and didn’t have the funds to play … and all these crazy scenarios, and I think it’s just an incredible story. 

“We have so many stories on tour, and I feel like hers is definitely one people can get behind and cheer for and root for,” Pegula continued. “I just thought it would be nice to highlight that a little bit, not just for her, but I think for all the storylines that we have in our sport, which I feel like is what makes our sport so great.” 

It began as The Family Circle Cup and morphed into the Charleston Open, a franchise which is owned by Ben Navarro, and continues to be a leader in women’s sports, Navarro pledged to lead the WTA’s march toward equal pay with the ATP in non-Grand Slam events and doubled his tournament’s purse to $2.5 million. 

Pegula collected $354,345, more than double last year’s top check. 

“There’s a lot of history here for me,” said Pegula, whose tennis journey includes Hilton Head and Daniel Island. “Not just training here, but playing this tournament so many times.” 

Starodubtseva earned $218,225 for her productive week in her Daniel Island debut. One tennis aficionado in town to witness her success was her ex-boss at the Westchester Country Club. 

“Actually, as I walked off after the ceremony, I realized I haven't said anything, and it's just because I'm purely nervous. I'm overwhelmed a bit. But I always wanted to thank Ukrainians for their support, and I want to say that my heart is there and was going to later write a post about it as well,” Starodubtseva said. “But, yeah, just thankful that some people still come. I saw Ukrainian flags around. It's really nice to see.” 

Desirae Krawczyk and Catherine McNally won the COCO doubles title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Anna Bondar and Magdalena Frech.