Last year, Jessica Pegula broke her Grand Slam quarterfinal curse at the US Open and made a run all the way to the final. She is now one win away from backing that run up after defeating Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pegula is now into her second Grand Slam semifinal, with both final four appearances coming at the US Open in the last two years during her career resurgence. At 31 years old, Pegula is now the third American woman to reach consecutive US Open semifinals after the age of 30, along with Serena Williams and Chris Evert, according to OptaAce.
Both Williams and evert are legends of the sport and are two of the greatest champions in the history of women's tennis, so Pegula will be thrilled to be in their company. However, she will be looking to put her name alongside them as a Grand Slam champion with two more wins.
The Buffalo native has yet to get her hands on that elusive Grand Slam title after losing the US Open final 7-5, 7-5 to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka a year ago. Now, she will take on Sabalenka once again in a rematch in the semifinals with a spot in the final on the line.
Pegula has had a bit of an odd season that started with her dealing with injury early in the year. She suffered a crushing defeat to French wild card Lois Boisson at the French Open in June and then dropped a stunning match in the first round of Wimbledon. While she wasn't able to find her best form in the lead-up to this US Open, Pegula is now playing her best tennis and is two wins away from the title.
The No. 4 seed should be fresh for the semifinals after winning each of her first five matches in straight sets, spending just about six hours on court in the process. That was a big factor in the quarterfinals, as Krejcikova was clearly operating at less than 100% after a pair of long matches in the third and fourth rounds.
Pegula will be back on the court on Thursday night for her semifinal looking to pull the upset over the top seed.
