Jessica Pegula continued her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open with a dominant fourth round victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.
Pegula, who was runner-up in New York 12 months ago, experienced little difficulty during her 6-1, 6-2, win over compatriot Ann Li. A player who was playing in the last 16 of a major event for the first time in her career at the age of 25. Pegula was too strong for her rival, who could only hold serve on two out of eight attempts and produced a costly 19 unforced errors.
The fourth seed has now won 15 consecutive matches against players outside the top 50 at the US Open, with her last loss occurring six years ago against Alize Cornet. It is the second year in a row she has reached the last eight in New York and the third overall.
“I played her at Roland Garros earlier this year and we had a really tough two sets,” Pegula said during her on-court interview.
“I know when she’s serving really well, she has a lot of confidence.
“I felt like she maybe came out a little slow or nervous or whatever it was, and I wanted to jump on top of that and not let her feel comfortable on this court.”
Pegula has dropped just 17 games in her last four matches played, which is the fewest she has ever dropped en route to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. This is the eighth time she has reached this stage of a major event in her career. The US Open is the only event where she has gone further.
“I felt like I was seeing the ball and coming in at the right times,” the 31-year-old commented on her latest performance.
“It doesn’t always feel that good, but I felt today I started off really well and I just wanted to keep executing that up until the very last game. I feel like it’s a part of my game that I can really use as a weapon.
“Sometimes it’s tough because I’m so good from the back (of the court). I kind of get stuck back, so it kind of depends on the match and how I’m feeling.”
Awaiting Pegula in the next round will be either current doubles world No.1 Taylor Townsend or two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova. Two players who have each already beaten a top 10 seed in the tournament. She currently has a losing head-to-head record against both players.
“I wasn’t playing great coming in here (the US Open), to be honest,” said Pegula, who failed to win back-to-back matches at her four previous tournaments.
“To even make the second week was a goal and then to now be into another quarter is crazy because I just wasn’t playing that well.”
Since January, Pegula has won WTA titles in Austin, Charleston, and Bad Homburg. The only other player to win this number of titles within the same period is world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
