US Open: Pegula knocks out valiant Svitolina, sets up Keys clash in round of 16

American Jessica Pegula, the No 3 seed, reached the last 16 of the US Open by defeating Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No 26 seed, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Saturday evening.

“I felt like the first two sets were kind of up and down on both of our ends. I think I played a little bit better the first set, she played a little bit better the second set. It wasn’t much,” Pegula said after her win. “The third set I think I found my range on my returns a little bit, was really able to pressure her on her serve, then continue to serve pretty well. Yeah, just find some momentum there early in the third to really get the crowd behind me and to pull out the set.”

Pegula now extends her head-to-head over Svitolina to 4-1, with every match being played on hard court.

“It will be interesting to see how smart I can play and what I can do to combat that” – Pegula on her next match against Keys

Pegula will face fellow American Madison Keys, the No 17 seed, next. The pair have met only once on tour – in San Diego last year which Pegula won but the world NO 3 is not underestimating her countrywoman.

“I know she plays really well here. I know she likes the U.S. hard courts. Obviously, she’s a finalist here. She’s definitely been playing well, won Eastbourne, did well at Wimbledon,” Pegula said of Keys. “Every time I practice with her, she just has the ability to just hit aces and rip forehands and backhands, play a really big power game. It will be interesting to see how smart I can play and what I can do to combat that. It’s always a challenge. I don’t mind playing players like that. Obviously, you have to play against girls like that, but it is hard. You know if they’re having a good day, you’re in for it. At the same time, I think I have a good game that can disrupt a lot of those players, so hopefully I’m able to do the things correctly that I need to do come match day.”

Pegula also continues her fine form this year, with a 37-6 record against players ranked outside the top 20, and she has still lost only two matches in the US this summer on hard courts.

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Earlier in the tournament, the American won against Italian Camila Giorgi (6-2, 6-2) and Romanian Patricia Maria Tig (6-3, 6-1).

Svitolina, ranked No 26, beat German Anna-Lena Friedsam (6-3, 6-1) and edged out Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (5-7, 6-4, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Flushing Meadow tournament.

New York (Grand Slam), other third-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Ons Jabeur vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Katie Boulter vs. Peyton Stearns
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Lucia Bronzetti: saturday
• Madison Keys beat Liudmila Samsonova (14): 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Clara Burel: 6-1, 6-1
• Daria Kasatkina (13) beat Greet Minnen (Q): 6-3, 6-4
• Sorana Cirstea (30) beat Elena Rybakina (4): 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4
• Belinda Bencic (15) beat Lin Zhu: 7-6 (1), 2-6, 6-3
• Coco Gauff (6) beat Elise Mertens (32): 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Caroline Wozniacki (WC) beat Jennifer Brady: 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
• Jelena Ostapenko (20) beat Bernarda Pera: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Kaja Juvan (Q): 6-0, 6-1
• Xinyu Wang beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova (10) beat Taylor Townsend: 7-6, 6-3