New York. Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek, the WTA number one, was eliminated from the US Open on Wednesday after losing in the quarterfinals to local player Jessica Pegula, who will face Czech Karolina Muchova in the semifinals.
Pegula took advantage of an unusually erratic performance by Swiatek to beat her 6-2, 6-4 and qualify for the Grand Slam semi-finals for the first time after six failed attempts.
“I’ve been here so many times that I couldn’t lose again,” a relieved Pegula told the 20,000 fans on Centre Court in New York.
“I always lost to great players, who went on to win tournaments, but I didn’t know what to say when people asked me,” she recalled.
“I can finally say that I am a semi-finalist! And to do it on this court against the number one, it’s crazy,” said the daughter of tycoon Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills of the NFL.
In addition to Pegula, American Emma Navarro will compete in the other semi-final against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, all of whom will fight for the throne left vacant by the local jewel, Coco Gauff.
At 30, Pegula took advantage of her chance against Swiatek, who, at 23, has five Grand Slam titles, one of which she won this season (Roland Garros).
In New York, the last ‘Major’ on the calendar, Swiatek has rarely shown her best form and only made it past the quarter-finals in the 2022 edition, where she emerged champion.
Pegula, on the other hand, arrived at this US Open in spectacular form after winning the WTA 1000 title in Toronto in August and finishing as a finalist in Cincinnati.
Swiatek started the match with unrecognizable tennis. Accustomed to dominating matches, the Polish player’s expression began to twist as she saw how her serve betrayed her and Pegula broke her in the first game of the match.
Swiatek, who only hit 36 percent of her first serves, allowed a second break with a double fault and found herself 4-0 down against a Pegula who was showing the consistency she usually lacked at this stage.
The local player won the first set in 37 minutes to the applause of a crowd that on Wednesday had the queen of gymnastics Simone Biles as a guest.
Swiatek returned from the break with a change of outfit and mentality to avoid another disappointment in Flushing Meadows, after last year’s defeat in the round of 16 against Jelena Ostapenko.
The Polish player responded to an early break from Pegula but her serving problems persisted and her rival broke her in the seventh game to seal her biggest win on a major stage.
Jack Draper defeats De Minaur and advances to the semifinals
In the men’s draw, Britain’s Jack Draper defeated tenth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in their respective quarter-final match to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Draper, ranked 25th in the ATP rankings, thus became the first Briton to reach the US Open semi-finals since Andy Murray in 2012.
The 22-year-old player had no complications against De Minaur, who seemed to be affected by a hip injury, and achieved victory in just over two hours to face in the semi-finals the winner of the match played last night between the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
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– 2024-09-05 04:51:02
