In her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal victory, No. 6-seed Jessica Pegula knocked No. 1 Iga Świątek out of the 2024 US Open in straight sets Wednesday night.
Now in uncharted territory, the US tennis star will aim at extending her historic run in tonight's semifinal against unseeded Czech opponent, Karolina Muchová.
Quarterfinal victory proved Pegula's dominance
The 30-year-old Pegula, who has yet to drop a set all tournament, took control of yesterday's match immediately, winning the first game on Świątek's serve — the five-time Grand Slam winner's first broken serve in 26 games.
Świątek, the 2022 US Open champion, committed 18 unforced errors in the first set. Visibly frustrated with her performance, the Polish phenom retreated to the locker room to regroup — a move that ultimately proved unsuccessful in the wake of Pegula's relentless 6-2, 6-4 victory.
After six previous Grand Slam quarterfinal attempts, Pegula celebrated, telling the crowd post-match that "there have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing.... So thank God I was able to do it. And finally — finally! — I can say, 'Semifinalist.'"
Two US contenders will feature in tonight's semis
Pegula isn't the only contender making her Grand Slam semifinal debut tonight. Before Pegula takes the court, fellow US player No. 13 Emma Navarro will take on reigning back-to-back Australian Open champion No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka, who fell to US star Coco Gauff in last year's US Open, hopes for better luck against Navarro — the player who ousted the No. 3 defending champ last weekend.
If both Pegula and Navarro emerge victorious, Saturday's US Open final would be the first contested by two US athletes since Sloane Stephens defeated Madison Keys for the 2017 title. It would also pit two New York locals against each other on their home Grand Slam court: Pegula hails from Buffalo, NY, while Navarro was born in NYC.
How to watch the 2024 US Open semifinals
Navarro and Sabalenka will kick off tonight's Grand Slam action at 7 PM ET, with Pegula's match against Muchová immediately following. Both semis will air on ESPN.
Coco Gauff has one regret that she may never be able to get over.
The 19-year-old made her first US Open final with a straight-sets win over Karolina Muchova, becoming the youngest American to reach the final at the Grand Slam since Serena Williams did it in 1999 at age 17. Williams went on to win the first of her 23 major singles titles.
So it seems a little bit like fate that, one year after Williams retired at the US Open, another American is following in her footsteps. Gauff became the first American teenager to reach the US Open semifinals since Williams in 2001.
And both Gauff and U.S. men’s player Ben Shelton, 20, have made more history. This year marked the first time multiple Americans aged 20 or younger have made it to the semifinals of the same Grand Slam since Venus and Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2000.
Yet while some might see Gauff as the face and the future of American tennis, she is in excellent company. At this year’s US Open, multiple Americans have made deep runs — including 28-year-old Madison Keys, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the other semifinal.
“I don’t think I’m carrying American tennis. I don’t think I will,” Gauff told ESPN. “We have so many compatriots who are doing well.
“Serena is Serena. She’s the GOAT. I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not gonna compare myself to her. She’s someone I look up to. Being in the same stat line as her means a lot to me. She’s my idol.”
Still, Gauff – who never once played against Williams professionally – has just one regret.
“The only regret I’ll have for the rest of my life is not being able to play her,” she said. “There were so many tournaments where if we won an extra round and didn’t lose, I would’ve played her. I’m still happy to just be a product of her legacy.”
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek won her third French Open title in four years on Saturday, defeating Karolina Muchova in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Swiatek now owns four Grand Slam titles: three from the French Open (2020, 2022, 2023), plus last year’s U.S. Open. The 22-year-old tennis star from Poland is the youngest woman to own four Grand Slam trophies since a 20-year-old Serena Williams accomplished the feat at the 2002 U.S. Open.
After winning the first set handily, Swiatek went up 3-0 in the second — but the unseeded Muchova fought back and scored a few truly remarkable points, including this one:
Sacrificing the BODY 🤯#RolandGarros | @karomuchova7 pic.twitter.com/v6H78TZpOs
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2023
Despite Swiatek’s previous experience hoisting the French Open trophy, this year’s celebration came with a surprise when the lid of the cup toppled off mid-celebration.
Hat's off, champ 🤭#RolandGarros | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/Iw49NVgC9K
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2023
Karolina Muchová has advanced to her first Grand Slam final after knocking off world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open.
The semifinal saw a tight battle, as Muchová went up 7-6 (7-5) in the first set over Sabalenka, taking the tiebreak. It was Sabalenka’s first dropped set in the French Open.
But the 25-year-old Belarusian did not go quietly. The second set went also went to a tiebreak, but Sabalenka forced a third set with a 7-6 (7-5) win.
While Sabalenka surged to a 5-2 lead, Muchová fought back, saving a match point at 40-15, holding serve and breaking Sabalenka before winning three straight games and pulling even at 5-5. From there, Muchová took a 6-5 lead, and then went up 40-0 in the final game before winning the match 7-5.
Keeping us guessing until the very end 😮
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2023
After the tightest of battles, it’s @karomuchova7 who prevails against world No.2 Sabalenka 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5 to make her first Grand Slam final.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/KAoq24tav9
“I don’t really know what happened, the atmosphere, the people are just pushing me all the matches,” Muchová said on the court after her win. “It’s unbelievable, I just try to keep fighting and it worked. I really don’t know what happened, I’m so happy.”
Sabalenka entered the match having won her last seven matches when losing the first set. The most recent of those came in the Australian Open final, which she won to take her first Grand Slam title.
Muchová is the first person to beat Sabalenka in a Grand Slam this year. The 26-year-old from Czech Republic will face No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7), in the other semifinal.