Tennis star Jessica Pegula shook off a rough opening set to overcome Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night, scoring a comeback win to take the Pegula vs Navarro 2026 US Open quarterfinal.
The No. 3 seed struggled with her serve early, committing five double faults in the opener alone, but found her rhythm from the baseline once the second set began.
The scoreline shifted sharply after that.
Jessica Pegula Battles Back in a Quarterfinal Win Over Emma Navarro
After recording just two aces through the first two sets, Pegula fired four more in the decider and locked down her service games at critical moments. Navarro, meanwhile, earned seven break-point looks in that final frame but converted only one.
That efficiency gap proved decisive, giving Pegula a 5-0 edge in the pair's career head-to-head.
"I wasn't exactly serving my best and I was fighting a lot of demons out there today," Pegula said after the match.
The 32-year-old now earns a semifinal berth at Flushing Meadows for the third year running.
She'll meet defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday in a rematch of the 2024 US Open final. Pegula has yet to win a Grand Slam title, but her composure in three-set battles like this one suggests she's getting closer to the breakthrough.
