NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula pulled off a major upset of Iga Swiatek at the US Open, beating the No. 1-ranked woman 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday night to win a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time on her seventh try.
Her win guarantees the US Open will have multiple American men and women playing in the semifinal round, the first time that has happened since 2003 (Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick; Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati).
Swiatek served poorly in the first set and her forehand was a real problem, with 22 of her 41 unforced errors coming on that side.
Pegula used terrific defense to keep forcing Swiatek to hit an extra shot. The No. 6-seeded Pegula, a 30-year-old American, has won 14 of her past 15 matches and will make her debut appearance in the semifinals of a Slam on Thursday against unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.