US Open: Jessica Pegula’s 7th Grand Slam quarterfinal will be against No. 1 Iga Swiatek
Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider
Jessica Pegula, of the United States, reacts after winning a match against Diana Shnaider, of Russia, in the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in New York.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider on Monday, her seventh trip to that round at a Grand Slam tournament. Now comes the hard part: Pegula is 0-6 in major quarterfinals over her career — and this next one will come against No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The No. 6-seeded Pegula, an American whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is on quite a run at the moment, having won 13 of her past 14 matches, all on hard courts. That included her second consecutive title in Canada and an appearance in the final at the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
“I feel like there’s been more pressure this year, because I did so well coming into this tournament,” said the 30-year-old Pegula, the oldest woman left in the field. “I want to keep working my way and hopefully bringing my best tennis for the later rounds this time.”
Swiatek was tied at 4-all with No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova on Monday night before grabbing seven straight games en route to winning 6-4, 6-1. When Swiatek captured the 2022 U.S. Open for one of her five Grand Slam titles, she eliminated Pegula in the quarterfinals.
“She’s in a good rhythm right now, and she won so many matches past weeks,” Swiatek said about Pegula, “that, for sure, it’s going to be a challenge.”
