Jessica Pegula continues her fantastic play at the Australian Open

One of the biggest American stories of the 2021 Australian Open continues to be the remarkable play of Jessica Pegula of Buffalo, NY. After knocking out two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the first round, Pegula pulled off another stunning upset in round two on Thursday.

This time, Pegula beat 2011 United States Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia, and it was never even remotely close. Pegula steamrolled past Stosur with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory in only 50 minutes. The first set lasted 27 minutes, and the second set was four minutes fewer, at 23 minutes.

Pegula read Stosur’s serve significantly better than Stosur read Pegula’s serve. Pegula had eight break point opportunities (of which she capitalized on six), while Stosur had none. Stosur also had four double faults, while Pegula had none.

Pegula’s performances at two of the last three majors have been stunning. Prior to the 2020 United States Open, Pegula had only won one grand slam match. That was a 7-5, 6-3 victory over former French Open quarterfinalist Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium. Then at Flushing Meadows last year, Pegula came away with impressive wins over Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. However, both of those wins went three sets, and were not of the dominant variety, as we have seen down under.

There are five American women in round three. Pegula is joined by 10th ranked Serena Williams of Saginaw, MI, who beat Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-0 in round two; 22nd ranked Jennifer Brady of Harrisburg, PA, who beat fellow American Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-2; Shelby Rogers of Mount Pleasant, SC, who beat Olga Danilovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-3; and Ann Li of King of Prussia, PA, who beat Alize Cornet of France, 6-2, 7-6.

On the men’s side, there are two American men left. They are 27th ranked Taylor Fritz of Rancho Sante Fe, CA, who beat fellow American Reilly Opelka 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2; and Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, CA, who upset 22nd ranked Borna Coric of Croatia, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.