Regardless of the outcome of Friday`s final quarterfinal, the Charleston semifinals were guaranteed to feature three American players.

Amanda Anisimova secured her spot by winning a tiebreak against local favorite Emma Navarro, with a score of 7-5, 7-6 (1) at the Credit One Charleston Open.

The last time three American women reached the semifinals in Charleston was in 2003. That year, Justine Henin defeated Serena Williams in the Family Circle Cup final, halting Williams` impressive 21-0 start to the season.

This year, the question is: will an American player claim the title, or will Ekaterina Alexandrova emerge victorious?

No. 1 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 9 Ekaterina Alexandrova

The Case for Pegula: She is currently the most in-form player among the semifinalists.

The 31-year-old American demonstrated her resilience on Friday by defeating defending champion Danielle Collins 1-6, 6-3, 6-0, winning the last nine games of the match. Her current momentum mirrors Collins` title-winning streaks in Miami and Charleston last year.

Pegula reached the final in Miami, where she was defeated by World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. In Charleston, she has won her first three matches, extending her impressive run to eight wins in her last nine matches. This performance equals her best result in Charleston, and she is determined to advance further after previous setbacks in the past two years.

Pegula, currently ranked No. 4 in the PIF WTA rankings, is playing her signature style of tennis – flat, fast-paced, and with excellent movement. However, she will need to elevate her game against Alexandrova, who has defeated her in their last two encounters.

Notably, Pegula`s only victory over Alexandrova occurred on clay four years ago in Rome.

“Obviously she’s beaten a lot of top players,” Pegula acknowledged. “But I’m hoping on the clay it will be a different story. The last time I beat her was on the clay so hopefully I can use that to my advantage a little bit.”

Why Pegula might win? She boasts the most match wins this year with 23.

The Case for Alexandrova: Delving into the statistics, Pegula has been successful in eight of her last 10 quarterfinal matches. Interestingly, Alexandrova was responsible for the other two defeats, recently in Doha and previously in Miami last year.

This matchup seems to favor Alexandrova. She has seemingly figured out Pegula`s game, having come back from a set down to win decisively in both of those quarterfinal matches, including a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory in Doha.

“She’s always consistent – on serve and return, like on every shot,” Alexandrova commented on Pegula. “There’s no easy targets with her and you just need to earn every single point. You just need to be prepared to play point after point because nothing’s going to be easy with her.”

Alexandrova is known for her streaks. Earlier this year, she achieved an eight-match winning streak, securing the title at the Linz 500 and reaching the semifinals in Doha. After entering Charleston with a four-match losing streak, she has now won three consecutive matches. To reach the semifinals, she defeated No. 6 seed Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1 and No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-4 on Friday. This victory ended Zheng`s 13-match winning streak on clay.

At 30, Alexandrova has an opportunity to make personal history. Despite a “love-hate relationship” with clay, she is in a strong position in Charleston. She has reached two clay-court semifinals before (including Charleston in 2022) but has yet to reach a final. This could be her chance.

No. 8 Amanda Anisimova vs. Sofia Kenin (to follow)

The Case for Anisimova: She displayed remarkable tenacity against Navarro, despite the strong home crowd support for her opponent.

Navarro served for the second set at 5-3 and led 30-0 before Anisimova turned the tide. By returning effectively, a skill she will need against Kenin, Anisimova forced a decisive tiebreak. This was crucial, as it would have been Navarro`s 39th three-set match since the beginning of the 2024 season, with an impressive 27-11 record in such matches.

They have played twice before, but those matches were in ITF tournaments eight years ago, making it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions. For context, Anisimova won their only clay-court encounter in Dothan, Alabama.

“It was so long ago,” Anisimova said in her on-court interview. “She was also someone I didn’t want to play back then. Yeah, it’s been a while. Going to be playing an American, so hopefully the crowd will be great out here again. Hopefully it will be a good match.”

This semifinal appearance matches Anisimova`s best result in Charleston and represents her best performance in a WTA 500 event. Anisimova should feel confident, having won 13 matches in 2025 and securing her first WTA 1000 title a few months ago in Doha.

The Case for Kenin: Her past record in Charleston is not strong, with a 2-6 main-draw match record. However, this year she has achieved four impressive match victories.

Kenin, the only unseeded player remaining, has not dropped a set in the tournament. She has defeated seeded players Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina, and Anna Kalinskaya in her previous three matches. Against Kalinskaya, Kenin served effectively, winning 26 of 32 first-serve points (81 percent) and was broken only once.

“Amanda’s a very solid, very flat hitter,” Kenin observed. “She’s added variety to her game, drop shots, coming in. It’s going to be hit or miss from both of our sides because we both like the flat game. We don’t really like to play those long points, do all that sliding. 

“But yeah, I’m looking forward to it. One American’s going to be in the finals, I’m just hoping that’s me.”

The only other time Kenin reached a clay-court semifinal was five years ago, following her Australian Open title, when she reached the final at Roland Garros.

“Been playing some great tennis this year, especially this week,” Kenin said. “I took this as a great opportunity, very happy with my level. It’s only great things, let’s see what happens tomorrow.”