Jessica Pegula said knowing how to win ugly was the key to her triumph over McCartney Kessler in Sunday's all-American final at the ATX Open in Austin.

Pegula recorded a scrappy 7-5 6-2 victory to claim her second title of the year, in the first all-American WTA final on United States soil since the 2017 US Open – when Sloane Stephens beat Madison Keys.

The world number four found herself a break down in the opener at 3-4, but errors started to creep into the big-hitting game favoured by Kessler, who also appeared to struggle with the windy conditions.

Pegula saved two break points in a marathon 12th game to take the opener, and despite losing serve at the start of the second set, she immediately responded with successive breaks and was untroubled from there.  

In her courtside interview, Pegula acknowledged she was on the back foot in the opening set but had decided not to force things against an error-prone opponent.

"At the end of the first set, I was still really struggling," Pegula said. 

"It was ugly. It was a lot of back and forth and there were definitely a lot of points that she probably should have won, but the conditions were really tough. 

"She overshot a few shots and went for it too much. When that happens, you don't ask questions and you just go 'okay, I’ll just try to use that to win this set'. Luckily, I was able to do that."

First title of 2025! @JPegula grabs her first title in Austin after defeating Kessler 7-5, 6-2. #ATXOpen pic.twitter.com/XwBHlfO6d0

— wta (@WTA) March 2, 2025

Data Debrief: Mistakes cost McCartney

Kessler racked up 34 unforced errors throughout Sunday's match, barely giving herself a chance against an opponent who played largely mistake-free tennis.

The victory snaps a three-match losing streak for Pegula in finals, and she is now unbeaten in five on American soil ahead of back-to-back WTA 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami.