New York — Jessica Pegula returned to the quarterfinals of the US Open with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Diana Schneider on Monday, her seventh time reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. Now comes the hard part. Pegula is 0-6 in major quarterfinals during her career, and next up is No. 1 Iga Sviatek.
The No. 6 seed Pegula, an American whose parents played for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is currently in pretty good form, winning 13 of her last 14 matches, all on hard courts. That includes her second consecutive title in Canada and a trip to the Cincinnati Open final, where she lost to No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
“I feel like there’s more pressure this year because I’ve been doing really well going into this tournament,” said the 30-year-old Pegula. “I just want to keep working hard and play my best tennis in the later rounds this time.”
Swiatek won seven straight games to win 6-4, 6-1 after being tied 4-4 with No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova on Monday night. When Swiatek won the 2022 US Open, one of her five Grand Slam titles, she eliminated Pegula in the quarterfinals.
“She’s in a good rhythm right now and she won a lot of games last week,” Swiatek said of Pegula. “It’ll be a challenge for sure.”
In fact, half of Pegula’s six quarterfinal exits at Grand Slams have come against No. 1 players: Swatek twice and Ash Barty once.
“I’m just going to try to bring that experience and that feeling going into the next game, but it’s really hard,” Pegula said. “I don’t want to give a cliche answer, but it’s one game at a time, every day is different. It depends on who you’re playing, what the conditions are, when you’re playing. There are so many variables every day.”
Returning to the quarterfinals is Karolina Muchova, who beat No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, who was runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon this season, 6-3, 6-3. Muchova next plays No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to become the first Brazilian woman to reach the US Open quarterfinals since Maria Bueno in 1968.
Haddad Maia is a 28-year-old left-hander who was suspended for 10 months in 2019 for failing a doping test. She reached the semifinals of the French Open last year but has not advanced past the second round at Flushing Meadows so far.
Muchova made her breakthrough in 2023, reaching the final in Paris and the semi-finals in New York, but underwent surgery on her right wrist in October and was sidelined for 10 months.
“It was my worst, most serious injury. But I love the sport, so I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to get better,’ and here I am today,” said Muchova, who lost to eventual winner Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open a year ago. “I’m just a really happy kid right now.”
Gauff, who was seeded third this year, was eliminated by 13th-seeded Emma Navarro on Sunday.
On the men’s side, No. 1 Jannik Sinner beat No. 14 Tommy Paul 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1 on Monday to set up a quarterfinal clash with 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev.
The only remaining men’s winner, No. 5 Medvedev, won 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 over Nuno Borges. All matches were in progress at the time, but the victory was delayed by six minutes because the building, which had an electronic telephone call system, had a fire alarm installed.
No. 25 Jack Draper became the first British male player to reach the quarterfinals in New York since Andy Murray retired in 2016. Draper, who was knocked out in the fourth round a year ago, beat unseeded Tomas Machak 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“I definitely miss Andy. A big shout out to Andy. He’s had an unbelievable career. He’s just an icon of the game. I miss him in the dressing room. I miss being around his smelly shoes and his smelly clothes,” said Draper, who will face No. 10 Alex de Minaur, who won 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 against Jordan Thompson in an all-Australian match. “Andy is a legend and if he has half the career he’s had, I’ll be a happy man.”
Everything went Pegula’s way against 18th seed Schneider, a 20-year-old Russian who played one season of college tennis at NC State and won a silver medal in women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics.
Pegula had 22 winning strokes, six aces, saved seven of the nine break points he faced and won five of Schneider’s service games.
“My movement has gotten really good, so I’ve been able to hold up in these points and sets and games and be incredibly consistent,” Pegula said. “I’ve been serving pretty well. Even when I’m not serving, I’ve tried to get out of my service game by serving smartly or serving well in key moments like today, when she returned really well.”
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