Pegula outlasts Noskova 2-1 at the WTA Finals — a match decided by two points, 130-128

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Two points. That is the whole margin: 130 for Jessica Pegula, 128 for Linda Noskova, across 258 points of WTA Finals tennis. Only at the end could the scoreline speak — Pegula 2-1, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5.

The first set refused to separate: 25 serve points won apiece, two breaks converted by each, five aces against three, and 22 return points to 19 as the only daylight in Pegula's favour. The tiebreak did the deciding. Noskova levelled the match in the second, erasing six of seven break points, taking 23 serve points to Pegula's 20 and closing it 6-4. Even winning that set, her return count sat at 16 to Pegula's 17.

The third set tilted hard on serve. Pegula won 30 serve points to 23, hit five aces to two and saved six of seven break points, while Noskova's radar slipped into seven double faults. Curiously, Noskova out-returned her 22 points to 16 in that decider and still lost it 7-5.

Both players converted five breaks across the match, so the separation lived behind the first delivery: 71% landed for Pegula against 67% for Noskova.

That middle number is the oddity: Noskova actually won more points against serve than Pegula, 57 to 55, and still finished with 17 games to 18. When both sides convert five chances apiece, the server owns the match — and Pegula's delivery carried more weight, eight double faults to fifteen telling the same tale from the other side.

Noskova won the turnover battle; Pegula won the night. In tennis this tight, the scoreboard only counts held serve.