Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro march toward weekend hardware in Austin and Merida

Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro are each within striking distance of celebrating a maiden 2025 title after their latest wins on Friday.

The fourth-ranked Pegula cruised past Anna Blinkova, 6-2, 6-2, at the ATX Open in Austin. The top seed capitalized on five of seven break points to book her second semifinal of the year after opening her season with a runner-up effort in Adelaide.

In the semifinals, Pegula meets Ajla Tomljanovic. The Australian squeaked past Ena Shibahara with 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8) victory.

Tomljanovic saw six match points come and go in the third set—one at 5-3, two at 6-5 and three when leading the decisive tie-break 6-3—before erasing one of her own at 6-7. The 31-year-old ultimately closed out the qualifier on her eighth opportunity.

Rising American McCartney Kessler meets Greet Minnen for the other championship berth at the 250-level event. Kessler, the No. 5 seed, rallied past Sorana Cirstea, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, while Minnen finished off Caroline Dolehide, 6-3, 7-5.

At the WTA 500 in Merida, Navarro leads a final-four lineup alongside three unseeded hopefuls.

The 2024 US Open semifinalist dashed Zeynep Sonmez’s hopes of defending her title (the 2024 edition was staged in November) with a 6-4, 6-2 win. A quarterfinalist at this year’s Australian Open, the top-seeded Navarro is seeking her biggest title to date.

Elina Avanesyan awaits after the 22-year-old turned the tide to beat Maya Joint, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. Daria Saville faces Emiliana Arango in the second semifinal. Saville had trailed second seed Paula Badosa, 1-6, 5-3, when the Spaniard retired with a lower back issue.