Jessica Pegula, of the United States, stretches for a return against Iga Świątek, of Poland, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, on September 4, 2024, in New York.
| Photo Credit: AP
Jessica Pegula ousted top seed Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals to continue the rich vein of American success at the U.S. Open on Wednesday (September 5, 2024) while men’s world number one Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev to book his spot in the semi-finals.
Pegula took advantage of an error-strewn performance from Swiatek to book a spot in her maiden Grand Slam semifinal 6-2 6-4, while Sinner prevailed 6-2 1-6 6-1 6-4 to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
The losses for Swiatek and Medvedev ensured that the U.S. Open will crown two new champions this year.
Sinner will face Jack Draper for a spot in a second Grand Slam final after the British surprise package earlier stunned hobbled Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3 7-5 6-2 to become the first British man to reach the semis since 2012.
Pegula, who had lost six previous Grand Slam quarter-finals, will take on Karolina Muchova after the unseeded Czech beat Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1 6-4 in the day session at Arthur Ashe stadium despite battling a “bug”.
“I’m really happy to be through to the semi-finals,” said Pegula, who joined male compatriots Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe at the business end of the tournament.
“I thought I played a really clean match. I feel like I didn’t really do anything that bad, and was able to kind of jump on her really early and I think frustrate her.”
Swiatek, the 2022 champion, could not claim the same as she suffered service issues in the opening set and made 41 unforced errors over the match.
The Pole’s struggles with her serve started early and Pegula took full advantage to race out to a 4-0 lead in the first set.
Swiatek looked sharper as she broke Pegula early in the second set but was unable to regain momentum with the sixth seeded American breaking back and going on to take the win.
“I didn’t really understand why my serve wasn’t working,” Swiatek lamented.
“It was hard for me to find, like, a proper solution for that. Today I just made too many mistakes.”
Mistakes also plagued 2021 champion Medvedev, who made 57 unforced errors over a topsy-turvy match against top seed Sinner.
The Russian failed to capitalise on the momentum he gained by winning the second set, losing five games straight in the third before handing Sinner a break in the…