Jessica Pegula downs Barbora Krejcikova to storm into 2nd US Open semi final

Jessica Pegula stormed into her second successive final of the US Open as she beat Barbora Krejcikova in the first quarter final on Tuesday, September 2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The fourth seed beat Krejcikova 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets, dominating the Czech rival right from the beginning.

Pegula had a forgettable run-up to New York but has changed things around dramatically as she’s yet to drop a set in the tournament so far and fired off 17 winners to beat her unseeded rival.

Krejcikova recovered from her injuries at the beginning of this year and saved eight match points in her fourth round fixture against Taylor Townsend to reach into quarters but ran out of gas against last year’s runner-up.

Reflecting on her win, Pegula revealed that she wanted to get off to a quick start acknowledging the threat of her Czech rival.

“I've been playing some really good tennis. I've just been playing very solid. I've been having very good quick starts, so I really wanted to do that today, especially against someone like Krejcikova who's very dangerous, and even at the end there it got really tight. She had a couple of



really good serves and I was serving up or returns when I was serving up 4-1, and then we all saw what she did against Taylor. So yeah, I was happy that we're done,” said Pegula in her on-court interview.

Furthermore, the 2024 runner-up at the Flushing Meadows thanked the crowd for their continuous support, saying that she has exceeded her expectations.

“I feel like I'm just really comfortable and it's crazy to look now and think that I'm really comfortable coming out here playing on big courts with big matches on the the best court in the world, with the craziest crowd against the best players. It's pretty crazy and it's, it's something 10 years ago I never, I never thought I'd be good at this, but I guess I am,” she added.

Meanwhile, Pegula became just the second woman after Serena Williams to reach back-to-back US Open semi-finals without dropping a set. She will next lock horns with the winner of the clash between the defending champion and world number one Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova. The fourth seed will be eager to continue her terrific form to progress into her second successive final in New York.