WHAT HAPPENED: Jessica Pegula’s previous six Grand Slam quarterfinals were humbling affairs. Some went down in heartbreaking fashion. Others went quickly, without a whimper. Frustratingly, every one of them ended with a red mark in the loss column.
Not tonight.
The Buffalo, N.Y., native earned the biggest win of her Grand Slam career Wednesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, moving past world No.1 Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 6-4, to reach her first major semifinal in her home Grand Slam.
“Thank god I was able to do it, and finally—finally!—I can say, 'semifinalist,'” she said, adding: “To do it primetime, in Ashe, against the No. 1 player in the world, it’s crazy. But I knew I could do it, I just had to go out and execute my game.”
Sixth-ranked Pegula will face Karolina Muchova of Czechia for a spot in the final on Thursday. Muchova is through to her second straight US Open semifinal, but was sidelined until late June this year with a wrist injury she suffered last year in New York.
“She’s so good, so talented, so athletic, I love how she just doesn’t play [due to injury] and just comes out and beats everybody,” Pegula said of her next opponent. “She’s a really good player. I know she has a lot of experience going deep in Slams as well, so I’m going to have to bring my tennis. I’ll worry about that, maybe when I wake up in the morning.”
Looking determined from first ball, 30-year-old Pegula pulled in front quickly, racing out to a 4-0 lead before the five-time major champion could make a mark on the scoreboard.
2022 US Open champion Swiatek dipped her toes into the contest at that point, holding at love for 4-1, and again for 5-2, but Pegula, backed by the cheers of the Ashe faithful, held at 15 to close out a 37-minute set in which she claimed 29 of the 44 points played.
It was uncharacteristically sloppy tennis in set one from the Pole, who committed 19 unforced errors in the opening stanza against just three winners. She finished with 41 unforced errors and 12 winners.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her forehand spray like this,” said former world No. 27 Laura Robson, who was commentating the match.
After surrendering an early break to fall behind 2-1 in the second set, Swiatek picked up her level, but Pegula was right there to match her. The American broke back for 2-2 and struck again, critically, to take a 4-3 lead in the second set.
Two more service holds did the trick. With the cacophony growing to a deafening roar inside the biggest tennis stadium in the world, Pegula closed out the contest, converting her third match point and raising her arms in triumph after 1 hour, 28 minutes.
WHAT IT MEANS: It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of Wednesday night’s triumph for the world No. 6. She entered this year’s main draw with six Grand Slam quarterfinals to her name in her last 14 appearances at the majors, though this year she had not been past the second round at any major.
But the American has been playing torrid tennis since she commenced a run to her sixth career WTA title in Toronto in August. She has won 14 of 15 matches since.
MATCH POINT: Pegula has now defeated a reigning world No.1 four times, and on three of those occasions her victim was Swiatek. In 2023, she defeated the Polish star at the United Cup and in Montreal. Pegula improves her lifetime record to 4-6 against Swiatek, a mark that includes victories in three of their last five meetings.
