Noskova powers past Pegula in Berlin decider to claim second career title

[p]The players took the court almost six hours late after a day of wild weather in the German capital, which forced the tournament to be evacuated for several hours.[/p][p]The 21-year-old claimed the opening set and maintained control in the match despite losing the second set against the 2024 champion to claim a second career title and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/noskova-l-zHMiAkw6/pegula-j-KdojxrAR/?mid=63RqUjxK"]a first at the WTA 500 level.[/a][/p][p]Czech [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noskova-linda/zHMiAkw6/"]Noskova[/a] is set to climb into the WTA top 10 for the first time in her career when the new rankings are released next week.[/p][p][b]"(This is) very incredible and unforgettable for me," [/b]Noskova said.[/p][p][b]"It's my second title, so like I said, you never forget the first ones, but you always never forget the second ones as well."[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="192b32a3-495d-4e71-954f-f14b69879d3a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="63e680cc-653a-4494-9c2b-a2d9cfab4217" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The result was a setback for 32-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Pegula[/a], who has never won a Grand Slam, just a week out from the start of Wimbledon.[/p][p]Pegula eliminated world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] in the semi-finals on Saturday to reach the final in Berlin for a second time.[/p][p]Noskova breezed past Filipina qualifier [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eala-alexandra/ppu9X7PH/"]Alexandra Eala[/a] in the semis and continued her strong form to break Pegula twice and claim the opening set.[/p][embed guid="a6d98729-6b24-4c35-895f-eb059735e7ab" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKfC75_5ZCI" social-type="youtube" /][p]Pegula found her feet in the second, breaking her opponent once to take it 6-4, the first time Noskova had dropped a set so far this tournament.[/p][p]The American looked to have a footing in the match, but Noskova broke early in the deciding set to drag the match back into her favour.[/p][p]Noskova is set to remain in Germany in the coming week to take part in the Bad Homburg tournament, another key Wimbledon preparation event, before travelling to England.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/berlin/"]Catch up on the Berlin results here.[/a][/b][/p]