Jessica Pegula confirmed this Monday at the Australian Open that she is the great sensation of the women's team. The 26-year-old American and 61st in the world was the only one of the 16 players in the round of 16 of the tournament who had reached them for the first time in a Grand Slam. And now he is already in the quarterfinals after beating the fifth favorite, Elina Svitolina, by 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3 in 1h: 55.
“Hi Mom, hi Dad, see you next round,” he wrote on camera after his win. the daughter of Terrence and Kim Pegula, billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills (NFL) and Sabers (NHL), who has played tennis for the love of art since the age of seven. She is now trained by David Witt, who was Venus Williams' coach for a decade. In 2019 he won the title in Washington and received the trophy along with his dog. Last year he played the finals in Auckland and Québec City.
Last month, Svitolina had beaten her in straight sets, at the Abu Dhabi tournament, and Jessica took revenge at the ideal moment. She had never beaten a top-10 on the circuit and this time she did it with determination and a courageous tennis that surpassed the Ukrainian, once again disappointing in a major. Pegula, who grew up admiring Martina Hingis, landed 31 winners and cared little for 40 unforced errors with her risky game. Svitolina had only lost serve three times in her previous three losses and the American broke it four times. In the quarterfinals, Jessica will face her compatriot Jennifer Brady, who beat Croatian Donna Vekic 6-1 7-5 in 1h: 34. It is the first time that Brady, who served very well (9 aces) and made few misses (19), reached the quarterfinals for the first time in the tournament. Vekic played the second set with a right knee injury for which she was treated. He did it with a bulky bandage.
Barty complies and Muchova triumphs
Ashleigh Barty, world number one and the first favorite of the tournament, went to the quarterfinals after winning 6-3, 6-4 in 71 minutes over Shelby Rogers. The Australian already beat the American a few days ago at the Yarra Valley Classic and has reached at least the fourth round of all the Grand Slams she has participated in since the 2018 US Open. She will face Czech Karolina Muchova, who gave a relative surprise by beating Elise Mertens in straight sets 7-6 (5), 7-5 in 1h: 56. It is the second time that he has entered the quarters of a major with an average of more than 20 winners per game. This time he placed 25 in a meeting that was complicated for him in both sets, but he knew how to overcome. In the first one he lost 4-0 and reached the tiebreaker. In the second he was behind on the scoreboard until he added a very important break in the eleventh game and then served to win.
Schedule and results.