The American late bloomer who took down the World No. 1 at the US Open
Summary
Jessica Pegula had gone 0-6 in major quarterfinals before Wednesday night. But after a 6-2, 6-4 upset win over top seed Iga Swiatek, the 30-year-old from Buffalo has reached the final four of a Grand Slam for the first time.As Jessica Pegula closed in on the biggest victory of her career, she all but forgot how to serve.
The U.S. Open crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium was at her back. The tension crept into her shoulders. With the world No. 1 across the court, she could only muster a second serve at 65 miles per hour.
The freeze, it turned out, was only temporary. Moments later, the 30-year-old American closed out a 6-2, 6-4 upset over Iga Swiatek. And more than just a stunning upset, the result came with a palpable sense of relief. Pegula had reached Grand Slam quarterfinals on six occasions before Wednesday and lost all six. The miserable streak had dragged on so long that she was the only player ranked in the top 10 never to play a major semifinal.
Now, at the very least, Pegula’s quarterfinal hoodoo is behind her. She will now face Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the semis on Thursday after her fellow American Emma Navarro takes on No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
“I’ve been so many freaking times and I just kept losing," Pegula said of the quarterfinal jinx. “But finally—finally—I can say semifinalist."
The wait for a breakthrough had dragged on so long that even Pegula questioned whether it would ever happen for her. The daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula, she first cracked the top 20 in 2021 and built a reputation as a player who couldn’t stay off the court. She played singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in a quest for a Grand Slam title of any kind. But during the second week of majors, Pegula would fade as the competition got tougher.
Then, as 2024 began, her season couldn’t have started any worse. She was dumped out of the Australian Open in the second round, split with her coach, and suffered a neck injury. It was almost the last straw. Pegula turned 30 in February and said she was “questioning everything."
“I was questioning whether I was OK to keep playing," she added, “with injuries, with coaching changes, mentally, physically—all these things."
None of it should have set her up for what happened on Wednesday night.
Pegula was facing the best player in women’s tennis and a five-time major champion who won here in 2022. The version of Swiatek that Pegula found across the net, however, was as chaotic as she’s ever been.
During the first set, Swiatek made barely a third of her first serves while Pegula pounded her signature groundstrokes deep into the court. Even after Swiatek recovered in the second, Pegula’s power continued to shake her. By the end of the evening, Swiatek had committed a colossal 41 unforced errors. Someone had lost her nerve in a Grand Slam quarterfinal—and this time, it wasn’t Pegula.
“To do it prime time, in Ashe, against the No. 1 player in the world," Pegula said, “it’s crazy."
Write to Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com
