Jessica Pegula has finally surpassed the quarter-final stage at a Grand Slam, having beaten Iga Swiatek to reach the semi-finals in New York.
It had felt like a long time coming, but after so many consecutive failures, it truly felt like she would never achieve that feat.
Especially given how her career was slowly getting on, whilst a new crop of superstars had emerged to make the task even harder.
By defeating such a revered opponent, she has arguably already beaten the hardest player she could have faced in the tournament.
But that’s not to suggest that her upcoming adversary will not pose just as many, if not more problems with her hard-hitting and all-action brand of tennis.
Jessica Pegula previews her US Open semi-final
Having naturally reviewed her win over the world number one, just after Iga Swiatek outlined the impossible thing Pegula failed to do again despite her win, attention swiftly turned to the future, with the American’s next opponent having already been revealed.
Karolina Muchova is enjoying a similarly stunning run of form and is the real shock of the US Open thus far given how far she has come.
Previewing the talents of the 30-year-old, and what threat she might pose, Pegula revealed: ‘I am a big fan of hers.
‘I think she is so good, so talented, so skilled as a tennis player. So complete. She doesn’t have a ton of weaknesses. We played for the first time in Cinci and I always laugh because she should be seeded but she never is. So I always see in the draw when she draws somebody good, I’m like she is back floating around in these draws and I don’t want a part of that.
‘In Cinci I had to play her first round and I was like damn it! But maybe it was a good thing in the end because now we get to play each other tomorrow and hopefully it will be a good match. She can play really well and it doesn’t seem to matter how many matches she has got in, she seems to have good results no matter what. It’s cool to see her back because I think she is great for the game and the way she plays is really fun.
‘She is tough, great athlete, doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses and has been deep in these slams before. I think she is just happy to be back playing and when you play players like that, I think they can be really dangerous.’
Jessica Pegula was rampant against Iga Swiatek
Beating Iga Swiatek in those conditions, and under the ever-mounting stress of having never reached a Grand Slam semi-final, marked an almighty triumph for Jessica Pegula.
And, her win was no fluke either, with the 30-year-old good value for knocking out the top seed.
Forging eight break points and converting four of them, she showed up big-time on the important points, whilst also limiting Swiatek to just a sole break from the three break points she forged.
Meanwhile, and arguably the most crucial statistic that afforded her such success, was that she won 16 more points than her opponent when receiving whilst also winning 77% of points on her first serve.
A determined, well-rounded and proficient display, she more than earned that victory. Hopefully she can maintain that solidity to overcome Muchova and put another American in the US Open final.
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