On Sunday, Caty McNally, ranked 92 in the world, will face Rebecca Peterson of Sweden in the semifinal round of the 2023 WTA Merida Open.
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McNally, like Peterson, did not waste any time in dispatching Kimberley Birrell in the quarterfinals, defeating the Australian in straight sets. In a match that lasted an hour and 45 minutes, McNally overcame four serve breaks to win 6-4, 6-3, and go to the semifinals for the second time in her career. After shocking Lin Zhu in the first round and defeating Katie Volynets in the second, McNally was down a break in the seventh game of the first set but came back to win it by breaking her opponent twice in a row. Four consecutive serve breaks brought the duo to 4-3 in the second set before McNally broke her opponent again. She served it off the next game to advance to the next stage. McNally may need to work her way around in comparison to Peterson’s experience, but she appears to be capable of doing so.
Magda Linette had such a fantastic year that she was a 9/20 favorite going into her quarterfinal against Peterson. The fact that Rebecca Peterson won was surprising enough, but for her to do so so easily takes the cake. Peterson was on the court for an hour and 48 minutes before losing 6-2, 6-4 against 21st-ranked Magda Linette. While Peterson faced ten break points during the match, she was only broken once in the entire match and returned four breaks of serve. Peterson struggled to get started in her first service game of the match. Serving to tie the match at 1-1, Peterson needed to save eight break-points in the second game, but what was intriguing was that once she did, she followed it up with back-to-back service breaks. It had been an incredible turnaround. In the second set, Peterson quickly moved up 5-1, and while she failed to serve out the first time, the Swedish won the second time she got a chance. Will she maintain her winning streak, which has included victories against Nadia Podoroska and Alycia Parks in this tournament?
| Caty McNally vs Rebecca Peterson | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 26, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard |
| Tournament | Merida Open |
| Stage | Semi-Finals |
| Time (India) | 06:35 am |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Kimberly Birrell | 6-4, 6-3 (W) |
| Katie Volynets | 6-3, 6-0 (WL) |
| Lin Zhu | 7-6,3 6-75, 6-1 (W) |
| Kateryna Baindl | 6-1, 7-64 (L) |
| Laura Pigossi | 7-5, 6-1 (W) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Magda Linette | 6-2, 6-4 (W) |
| Alycia Parks | 6-4, 6-2 (W) |
| Nadia Podoroska | 6-3, 7-5 (W) |
| Carol Zhao | 7-65, 4-6, 6-4 (W) |
| Diane Parry | 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 (W) |
There have been no previous WTA meetings between these two players. They did meet at the ITF level in 2019, with McNally winning in straight sets.
Caty McNally and Rebecca Peterson will take on each other in the Semi-finals of the 2023 ATP Merida Open on February 26.
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