Jessica Pegula ousts world No. 1 Iga Świątek and breaks through to her first major semifinal

<i>Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Jessica Pegula previously was 0-6 in grand slam singles quarterfinals.

By CNN Newsource

Published September 4, 2024 6:53 PM

By Jill Martin, CNN

(CNN) — The top seed in the US Open women’s singles draw is out – and an all-American final is possible.

After a long wait, American Jessica Pegula has broken through to reach her first grand slam semifinal, upsetting world No. 1 and five-time grand slam champion Iga Świątek 6-2, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night. Pegula, 30, previously was 0-6 in grand slam quarterfinals.

“I have been (in the quarterfinals) so many freaking times,” Pegula said in her interview on court. “I just kept losing – but to great players. I mean, to girls that went on and won the tournament.

“I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ‘I don’t know what else to do. I just need to get there again and win the match.’ So thank God I was able to do it, and finally – finally! – I can say semifinalist.”

Pegula joins fellow American, No. 13 seed Emma Navarro, in the semifinals Thursday. If they both win, they would meet in the final Saturday.

With Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe advancing to the same stage in the men’s singles draw, this is the first grand slam with two American men’s and women’s singles semifinalists since the 2003 US Open.

Pegula, currently ranked No. 6 in the world, will take on unseeded Karolína Muchová in the semifinals. The 28-year-old Czech booked her spot in her second consecutive US Open semifinal with a 6-1, 6-4 win against No. 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil earlier Wednesday.

Navarro, in her first major semifinal at age 23, will face No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka, the favorite to win the tournament, is in the US Open semifinals for the fourth year in a row and was the runner-up last year.

The 26-year-old Belarusian is seeking to sweep the hard court grand slams in 2024, having won the Australian Open for the second consecutive year back in January.

Pegula now has beaten Świątek four times in her career, while the 23-year-old Polish star – who has four French Open titles and one US Open title – has beaten the American six times.

On Wednesday night in New York, the Buffalo native broke Świątek – who had gone three matches in a row without facing a break point – four times. Two of those breaks came on Świątek double faults in the opening set.

“I knew I could do it,” Pegula said. “I just had to go out and execute my game and not get frustrated. Luckily, I felt like I was able to take advantage of some things she wasn’t doing well very early and then was able to kind of ride that momentum throughout the match.”

Pegula has won 14 of her last 15 matches. She won the Canadian Open for the second consecutive year and finished as runner-up to Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open last month.

“It’s never easy to play against Jess,” Świątek said. “She has a tricky ball because it’s pretty low and pretty flat.

“But I wouldn’t say she changed like a lot, because it’s impossible to change her game style, but for sure she was for sure, like, more solid than me and making much less mistakes.

“So because of that, she was kind of putting, you know, pressure with that. But usually I’m able to push it back or put pressure on myself, but today I just made too many mistakes.”

Karolína Muchová, fighting bug, back in US Open semifinals

Meanwhile, in the earlier quarterfinal Wednesday, Muchová improved to 4-0 in her career against Haddad Maia.

But it was a win that Muchová characterized as “weird,” as she left the court multiple times during the match. She later told reporters, “I’m fighting bug a little bit. I’m a little sick.”

“I hope it didn’t disturb anyone,” Muchová continued. “It never happened to me before, but I really needed to go off the court when I get a chance to go. Again, I hope it didn’t disturb her, didn’t disturb the people.”

Heading into this year’s US Open campaign ranked at No. 52, Muchová, who has been suffered numerous injuries in her career, said she had “zero thoughts” on going far in the tournament.

After her 2023 US Open run, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Coco Gauff and rose to a career-high No. 8 in the world, Muchová shut things down because of a wrist injury. She went on to miss nine months.

In February, she underwent surgery, not returning until late June at Eastbourne. The US Open is her sixth event since her return.

But she has proven that when she’s healthy, she can go deep in a grand slam – and not just in New York. Muchová also was a finalist at the 2023 French Open, a semifinalist at the 2021 Australian Open, and a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon (2019 and 2021).

Muchová has demonstrated some fantastic serve-and-volley tennis in New York, while taking out some big names – including four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka and No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, this year’s French Open and Wimbledon runner-up – along the way.

Her behind-the-back lob during her first-round win against Katie Volynets is in the running for the shot of the tournament – maybe even shot of the year.

“Injuries, I don’t even like to talk about injuries. … I’ve been through a lot of them,” Muchová said. “Yeah, this last one, the wrist surgery, was one of the most, one of the worst ones that I had.

“Yeah, now looking back, I’m, like, oh, it actually flew by, the time, and I feel strong again. But when I go back to February, I have to say I wasn’t always that positive. It was tough moments honestly when I couldn’t move the arm and couldn’t do much.

“But, yeah, it’s few bad days, and then I always try to just regroup and focus on the step that I could do, what’s the first step I can do towards recovery. I had really great team of doctors around me and my team who is with me all the time supporting me. We worked a lot. And through every injury, we always stick together and work on it to get healthy again and be able to play.

“I’m now just very grateful for all those people that always have my back, and yeah, that I’m here playing pain-free.”

This will be the second meeting between Pegula and Muchová, with the American winning in three sets in the round of 32 at Cincinnati last month.

“She’s so good,” Pegula said of Muchová. “She’s so talented, so athletic. I love how she just doesn’t play and comes back and beats everybody. 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 best tennis.”