There were anxious moments. There were nerves. For the first time in this U.S. Open, Jessica Pegula wasn’t cruising.
She was even at one set apiece and tied at two-all in the final set with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
The third-seeded American, however, didn’t buckle.
She responded to her first bout of adversity in the tournament without breaking a sweat.
Pegula reeled off the next four games, moving past Svitolina, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, and into the fourth round and a meeting with fellow American Madison Keys on Labor Day.
“I knew, no matter what, she wasn’t gonna go away. Every time I play her, it’s so close,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “She’s playing amazing. She definitely picked up her level and forced me to really have to come out strong in the third set.”
Pegula, 29, broke the 26th-seeded Svitolina’s serve to go ahead in that last set and never looked back, advancing to the fourth round for just the second time in Flushing.
The first time was last summer, when she lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. Pegula will have to get past Keys, the 17th seed who rallied to knock off No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova. 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
“We’ve been in the same section every single tournament the last three or four tournaments,” Pegula said of Keys. “We were like, ‘I think the world just wants us to play,’ so I’m glad we get to put on a show for you guys. It’s gonna be really tough.”
Keys has performed well in major tournaments of late.
She reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and is eyeing her first trip to that round at the U.S. Open since making it to the semifinals in 2018.
Like Pegula, Keys’ first two matches were relatively easy, but she needed to dig deep on Saturday after dropping the opening set.
She credited her fiancé and fellow tennis player, Bjorn Fratangelo, for her strong play, particularly his ability to calm her down in difficult moments.
“Everything’s been really good,” said Keys, 28. “He’s keeping a tally of his wins and losses. Jesse Pegula’s coach, David Witt, keeps calling him coach of the year, and that he’s coming for his titles. So, so far so good.
“Overall just really time on court, just kind of trying to get me to relax and take a little bit of pressure off of myself,” she added. “I think when you have one of your biggest supporters standing there, especially after the French Open, a tough time for me, just kind of having that constant support I think was the biggest difference.”
