Polish world number one Iga Swiatek, who had a poor performance, was soundly beaten on Wednesday in New York by Jessica Pegula, which allows the Americans to count half of the semi-finalists in their US Open.
After a long injury, the Czech Karolina Muchova makes her return in the semi-finals, a level that the Briton Jack Draper will discover, twelve years after Andy Murray.
The surprise of the day came from Jessica Pegula, world number 6, who finally broke her glass ceiling after six failures in the quarter-finals of a Major tournament, easily dominating world number 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4.
“Finally I can say that I am a semi-finalist! I knew I could do it if I applied my game without getting frustrated,” Pegula (30) commented at the stadium microphone.
Swiatek (23 years old), victorious at Flushing Meadows in 2022 and four times crowned at Roland-Garros, was weighed down by her unforced errors (41 in 18 games played, against 22 for Pegula).
Pegula’s qualification confirms the excellent US Open of the Americans – despite the early elimination of Coco Gauff – who therefore have four semi-finalists: Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe who face each other on Friday, and Emma Navarro, a novice at this level, opposed to the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday.
– “Strange match” –
Pegula will face Karolina Muchova (52nd) in the semi-final on Thursday, who beat the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad (21st) 6-1, 6-4.
The Czech’s modest ranking with a varied game, which does not reflect her level, is due to a wrist injury that cost her ten months of competition between the end of 2023 and mid-2024. Last year she had already reached the semi-finals of the tournament for a defeat against Coco Gauff.
“It was a strange match. I had some physical problems that I prefer not to comment on. I managed to get through them by going back and forth to the toilet. Sorry if it was disturbing, but I had no choice,” commented the 28-year-old Czech, casting a shadow over her physical condition as she continues on Thursday.
Jack Draper, ranked 25th in the world, continued his winning ways: he won his first Grand Slam quarter-final, against Australian Alex De Minaur (10th) 6-3, 7-5, 6-2, and will play his first major semi-final.
At 22, he is the fourth Briton to reach the semi-finals of the men’s draw in New York in the Open era (1968) after Greg Rusedski (1997), Tim Henman (2004) and Andy Murray (2008, 2011, 2012).
– First –
“It’s the first time I’ve played on the biggest court in the world (the Arthur Ashe, editor’s note) and it’s a dream come true,” commented the Briton, who didn’t seem to have his head in the clouds at all as he imposed his game on De Minaur.
Last year at Flushing Meadows, he reached the round of 16, which was his best Grand Slam result to date.
Before this quarter-final, he had not lost a single set and had only conceded his serve once in New York.
De Minaur took his serve twice, but failed to take a set.
“I was solid and physically, it’s been a long time since I felt this strong,” said Draper, who will know his opponent after the last match scheduled for the evening, the clash between the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
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