Noskova defeats Gauff, Pegula stays in WTA Finals hunt

Linda Noskova secured her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Coco Gauff on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, while Jessica Pegula eliminated Marta Kostyuk from the season-ending tournament with a straight-sets win. The Czech player won both her encounters without dropping a set, ensuring her advance to the knockout stage. Gauff and Pegula both held a 1-1 record, with the final round-robin matches set for Thursday determining who would join Noskova in the last four.

Pegula bounced back from her opening defeat to Gauff by defeating Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5, which eliminated the Ukrainian from semi-final contention. She started strong, breaking Kostyuk in the opening game and securing another break to take the first set. Pegula maintained her momentum into the second set, breaking again early as both players exchanged breaks twice. Kostyuk’s attempts to fight back were hindered by her 17 unforced errors in the opening set compared to Pegula's three.

"Once I got off to a good start today, I definitely didn’t want to give away that second set," Pegula reflected. “In general I wouldn’t want to, but I think it was a bit of an extra push to give myself the best chance in this group, considering I did lose the first match."

Noskova then took control against Gauff in a match highlighted by inconsistent serving from both players. They traded breaks at the beginning of the first set, but Noskova broke twice more to take that set. Gauff continued to struggle with her serve in the second set, allowing Noskova to build a 3-0 lead. Despite Gauff's effort to stay in contention, she could not recover as Noskova held serve throughout the rest of the set, sealing her victory with an ace.

The result sent the Wimbledon champion into the semi-finals on her debut at the tournament, while Gauff will have another opportunity to qualify when she faces Kostyuk on Thursday. Pegula is set to take on Noskova in the other final Group 1 match. Kostyuk, who replaced world No. 1 Elena Rybakina after the Kazakh withdrew due to a viral illness, marked her first appearance at the WTA Finals.

"I saw that she’s changing pace a lot, and I would struggle sometimes," Kostyuk said after her defeat to Pegula. "Overall, I think I was pretty happy with my return today. You can obviously be better, everything can be better. Next time, maybe I’ll be more ready."