U.S. Open tennis: Jessica Pegula frustrates Iga Swiatek, makes first semifinal

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- American Jessica Pegula snapped her 0 for 6 drought in Grand Slam singles quarterfinals, beating top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the 2024 U.S. Open to make her first semifinal.

"I thought I played a really clean match, served pretty well, returned well," Pegula told reporters Wednesday in Flushing, N.Y. "I feel like I didn't really do anything that bad, and was able to kind of jump on her really early and I think frustrate her, and was able to keep my level even when she picked it up in the second set."

Pegula, ranked No. 6, broke Swiatek's serve four times. She logged just 22 unforced errors, compared to 41 from her Polish foe. She needed just 88 minutes to earn the 6-2, 6-4 triumph at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I could tell right away she was frustrated on the serve," Pegula said of Swiatek.

Pegula will meet No. 52 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals. The winner will battle No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or No. 13 Emma Navarro of the United States in the women's singles final.

Muchova advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over No. 21 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.

No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy advanced to the men's quarterfinals with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Wednesday in Flushing. No. 25 Jack Draper of Great Britain also advanced with a straight-sets win over No. 10 Alex de Minaur of Australia.

Sinner and Draper will meet in a men's semifinal. The winner of that match will face an American -- either No. 12 Taylor Fritz or No. 20 Frances Tiafoe -- in the men's singles final.

Navarro and Sabalenka will face off in their semifinal sometime after 7 p.m. Thursday at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Pegula-Muchova match will start after the Navarro-Sabalenka meeting.