Jessica Pegula, of the United States, stretches for a comeback against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the quarterfinals of the US Open Tennis Championships in New York on September 4, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP
Jessica Pegula continued the rich streak of American success at the US Open on Wednesday (September 5, 2024) by ousting top seed Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals while men’s world number one Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev to book his place in the semifinals.
Pegula took advantage of Swiatek’s error-filled performance to win 6-2, 6-4 and reach her first Grand Slam semifinal, while Sinner won 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
The defeats of Swiatek and Medvedev ensured that two new champions would emerge at this year’s US Open.
Sinner will face Jack Draper for a place in a second Grand Slam final, after the Briton beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 to become the first British man to reach the semi-finals since 2012.
Pegula, who had lost in her past six Grand Slam quarterfinals, will next face Karolina Muchova, who beat Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1, 6-4 in the day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I’m very happy to be in the semifinals,” said Pegula, who joined compatriots Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe in the men’s division at the end of the tournament.
“I think I played a really clean match. I think I didn’t really do anything bad, and I was really able to dominate him early on and I think I frustrated him.”
Swiatek, the 2022 champion, could not make the same claim as she suffered service problems in the opening set and made 41 unforced errors during the match.
The Polish player began having trouble with her serve early on and Pegula took full advantage of that to take a 4-0 lead in the first set.
Swiatek broke Pegula’s serve early in the second set but was unable to regain momentum as the sixth-seeded American broke her serve and held on for the win.
“I don’t really understand why my serve wasn’t working,” Swiatek lamented.
“It was hard for me to find the right solution. I made a lot of mistakes today.”
Mistakes were also a concern for 2021 champion Medvedev, who made 57 unforced errors in a topsy-turvy match against top seed Sinner.
The Russian failed to capitalise on the momentum he gained after winning the second set, dropping five games in a row in the third and conceding a break to Sinner in the fourth thanks to an unforced error.
“The first two sets were weird because whoever got the first break started losing,” said Sinner, who beat Medvedev in this year’s Australian Open final though lost to him in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
“It was very tough … we knew it was going to be very physical,” Sinner said.
‘Accumulation of matches’
Draper reached a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time without dropping a set in the tournament, earning his first career win over 10th seed de Minaur.
The Australian struggled to find his range from the start and was broken early, which set up the match and he made a number of unforced errors.
The Australian equalised at 4-4 in the second set but Draper broke in the 11th game and then went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Draper’s power and accuracy in the third set tired de Minaur, who had been struggling with a hip problem since Wimbledon.
“The way he can stretch the court, being left-handed and really moving you around the court, it takes a toll on the body,” de Minaur said. “The accumulation of matches takes a toll, too.”
No British representative has reached the US Open men’s singles semi-finals since Andy Murray won the title in 2012.
“I feel the best I’ve felt in a long time and I think Alex has put me in that position in the past,” Draper said.
In the first match of the day, Muchova continued her excellent form following a long period out of action following surgery on a wrist injury suffered at Flushing Meadows last year.
In only her sixth tournament on the tour, Muchova showed brilliance early on, jumping out to a 4-0 lead over Haddad Maia before winning the first set.
The Brazilian played better in the second set as the players exchanged breaks before Muchova made the physio and doctor sit in their chairs to make it 5-3 and then took advantage of the new balls to hit an ace to seal the win.
“I think I played well on the key points, which means when I had a breakpoint or I was serving for the game, I always pulled off a good shot,” Muchova said. “I’m glad I was able to take two sets again.”
“I’m fighting a bit of a bug. I’m a little sick. I hope it hasn’t bothered anyone.”
Published – September 05, 2024 12:36 PM IST