Pegula stuns No. 1 Swiatek in US Open quarterfinal
Jessica Pegula is through to the semifinal of a Grand Slam event for the first time, and she got there in style.
The 30-year-old Buffalo native, seeded sixth, upset top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in New York.
Pegula had been 0-for-6 in her career in major quarterfinals before breaking through against Swiatek, the 2020 U.S. Open winner and a five-time major champion.
Asked about her previous quarterfinal woes, Pegula said, “I just kept losing but to great players. I know everyone keeps asking me about it, I just didn’t know what else to do. I just needed to get there again and win the match. Finally I’m able to say I’m a semifinalist.”
Each player recorded 12 winners, but Swiatek committed 41 unforced errors to Pegula’s 22. Pegula converted half of her eight break-point opportunities, while Swiatek was just 1-for-3.
“On the one hand, I was telling myself that I can still play well from the baseline,” Swiatek said. “And I’ve had many tournaments where I didn’t serve well and I managed to win anyway. But I probably didn’t find the right solution because I couldn’t push with my serve.
“Also, I wasn’t that solid from the baseline to have a backup like that. You’re not going to win if you make so many mistakes, and I made those and it’s on me.”
The next opponent for Pegula will be unseeded Czech player Karolina Muchova, who advanced to her second consecutive U.S. Open semifinal by defeating No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-1, 6-4.
Muchova will hope she’s healthy for the Thursday match. In the second set against Haddad Maia, she took multiple breaks for unspecified medical treatment and bathroom visits.
“A little weird match, I have to say,” Muchova said in her on-court interview. “I had a lot of problems, I wouldn’t like to comment on it. I’m happy I managed it.”
After the 2023 semifinals, she underwent wrist surgery and didn’t return to play until June.
Muchova, 28, moved to 4-0 in her career against the Brazilian. She has one appearance in a Grand Slam final, losing to Swiatek at the French Open in three sets in 2023.
Muchova, who ousted four-time major champion Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy in earlier rounds, has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
She won the first five games of the quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Pegula and Muchova have squared off just once, when Pegula prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round at Cincinnati last month.