Big surprise to close the quarterfinals of the US Open in the women’s category. Jessica Pegula scored an impressive victory Wednesday against Iga Swiatek, to achieve the milestone of placing, between the men’s and women’s teams, four Americans in the semifinals.
Number 6 in the WTA rankings, the American beat a wildly erratic Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes to qualify for the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time after coming in seven sometimes in a few rooms.
The one in Buffalo rounded off a wonderful round of quarterfinals for American tennis, which had four representatives in the competition and signed in full as they all earned their ticket to the semifinals.
The country of stars and stripes has not had four semi-finalists in the last ‘Grand Slam’ of the year since 2003.
In addition to Pegula, Emma Navarro (n.12) succeeded on Tuesday, while in the men’s team Taylor Fritz (n.12) and Frances Tiafoe (n.20) also did.
With 14 victories in her last 15 matches, Pegula is having a fantastic moment after winning her second straight Canadian WTA 1,000 this summer and reaching the WTA 1,000 final in Cincinnati the following week.
Precedents were not on his side against Swiatek, who had won six of their previous nine meetings.
In addition, the Pole has a perfect record of 11 wins and no losses against American tennis players this year.
But tonight’s start at Arthur Ashe Stadium couldn’t have been worse for the WTA number one, who surrendered two straight breaks (both with a double fault on the final point) and was 3-0 down when she was just through. a quarter hour
Swiatek’s serve was dramatic in the first set (36% first serves) and he was also blocked with 19 unforced errors.
In front of him, Pegula limited himself to having a very solid and confident first round, limiting his mistakes (12 unforced errors) and taking advantage of all the gifts that came to him from the other side of the net. The result? 6-2 for the American in 37 minutes.
The second chapter pointed to full drama for Swiatek, who lost his second turn on serve and seemed to be heading straight for the cliff.
The Polish Warsaw knew how to react and return the break with a good forehand on the line (2-2), but he could not find the rhythm or his best level against an unperturbed Pegula, too concentrated and that returned everything.
At 3-3 and after a very long game, Pegula scored another break and, without wasting much time, closed out a huge victory against the unheralded Swiatek who sent New York away with 41 unforced errors in 22 of his rival.
Source: La Verdad
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