Pegula beats Azarenka to reach Guadalajara final

(Reuters) - Third seed Jessica Pegula overcame a sluggish start to breeze past Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (3) 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the Guadalajara Open.

The 28-year-old American, chasing her second career title, will await the winner between Greek fourth seed Maria Sakkari and Czech Marie Bouzkova in Sunday's final.

Pegula found herself in an early hole to the Belarusian former-world number one as Azarenka secured the early break on way to 3-0 lead.

But Pegula would soon find her rhythm, breaking back to send the set went to a tie-break which she took 7-3.

Having let the opening set slip away Azarenka unraveled while Pegula stepped up her play, breaking the two-time Australian Open champion twice as she steamrolled through the second to reach her second final of the year.

Pegula's path to final has included wins over four Grand Slam winners, a second round victory over Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina followed U.S. Open champions Bianca Andreescu and Sloan Stephens and Azarenka.