Jessica Pegula reaches a grand slam semifinal for the first time

Jessica Pegula of Buffalo, New York had the most significant win of her tennis career on Wednesday. In the women’s quarterfinals of the 2024 United States Open, Pegula beat the world number one Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-2, 6-4.

For Pegula, who was seeded sixth, the win was noteworthy, because of her career long struggles in grand slam quarterfinals. Heading into her Wednesday matchup against Swiatek, she was zero and six in grand slam quarterfinal matches. Swiatek lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to fellow American Jennifer Brady at the 2021 Australian Open, 6-2, 6-0 to Australia’s Ashleigh Barty at the 2022 Australian Open, 6-3, 6-2 to Swiatek at the 2022 French Open, 6-3, 7-6 to Swiatek at the 2022 United States Open, 6-4, 6-1 to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the 2023 Australian Open, and 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic at Wimbledon in 2023.

Inside Look at Pegula’s Quarterfinal Win

From an energy standpoint, Swiatek seemed to struggle on Wednesday. Swiatek also made 41 unforced errors compared to 22 for Pegula. The bottom line is that Pegula was the one who dictated play, showed the most confidence, and attacked Swiatek’s forehand, where she clearly struggled. Pegula also broke Swiatek four times in eight opportunities.

Fourth win over Swiatek

All-time Pegula has beaten Swiatek four times in 10 opportunities. Pegula’s prior wins came in the third round in Washington in 2019 (5-7, 6-4, 6-1), at the 2023 United Cup (6-2, 6-2), and at the semifinals of the 2023 National Bank Open in Montreal (6-2, 6-7, 6-4).

Four American Upsets

Heading into the quarterfinals, four Americans were the underdogs and all came away with victories. In addition to Pegula’s win, Emma Navarro of New York, New York defeated Paula Badosa of Spain 6-2, 7-5. Despite Navarro being seeded 13th, compared to Badosa being seeded 26th, it was Navarro who was the underdog at +110. Meanwhile on the men’s side, the 12th seed Taylor Fritz of San Diego, California upset the fourth seed German Alexander Zverev 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, and the 20th seed Frances Tiafoe of Hyattsville, Maryland upset the ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.