Quarterfinals: Jessica Pegula vs. Iga Swiatek
Arthur Ashe Stadium — Night Session — First Match
- No. 6 seeded American Jessica Pegula goes up against top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night, as they seek to earn a spot in the semifinals of the 2024 US Open.
- If Pegula wins the match, she will advance to her first major semifinal after six previous attempts. For Swiatek—the five-time major champion—however, this US Open would be her seventh appearance in the semifinals of a Slam.
- Pegula has cruised through the first four rounds of her home major, winning all of her matches in straight sets. She has spent less than five-and-a-half hours on court, and her longest matches were both 1 hour and 27 minutes: her second-round match against compatriot Sofia Kenin, and a battle with rising star and No. 18 seed Diana Shnaider in Round 4.
- Swiatek, the four-time Roland Garros champion, also has yet to drop a set during her run in Queens. But she has spent a little more time on the courts, clocking in at just under six hours. Swiatek’s quickest match resulted in a 6-0, 6-1 scoreline against qualifier Ena Shibahara, but she had to face two seeds, No. 25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova to reach the final eight.
- The pair have played nine times, with the Pole leading their head-to-head 6-3. Their most recent face-off was at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun, where Swiatek cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. However, en route to winning the title in Canada last year (which she successfully defended in August), Pegula defeated Swiatek in three sets, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4. Swiatek has taken all but one of her six wins in their head-to-head in straight sets, while Pegula needed three sets for two of her wins.
- In 2022, Pegula had her best US Open result thus far, when she reached the quarterfinals before she was turned back by Swiatek, 6-3, 7-6(4). But this year marks the second time that Swiatek has been past the fourth round on the signature blue courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
- Despite her historic success again Pegula, Swiatek is not underestimating the "Against Jessie, it's never easy. ... She's in a good rhythm right now, and she won so many matches [over the] past weeks, that for sure it's going to be a challenge.”
- The quarterfinals of majors have proven themselves somewhat of a challenge to the world No. 6, as Pegula has yet to break into the semifinals at the Slams. In her press conference on Monday, the American said she’s taking the tournament day by day: “I've had a couple of deep runs in some big tournaments, obviously, leading up to here. I think maybe the only difference is I had kind of a tough start to the year, so I think I'm a little bit more appreciative of being able to turn it around the last month like I have … I'm just happy that I've been able to give myself another opportunity.”
