Jessica Pegula continues to redraw the limits of her career in New York. The 31-year-old American swept into the last four of the US Open on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of Barbora Krejcikova, becoming the first woman to reach back-to-back semi-finals here without dropping a set since Serena Williams strung together four straight runs between 2011 and 2014.
It was a performance of cool authority, built less on fireworks than on persistence and precision. She needed only 86 minutes to subdue her opponent, whose serve collapsed under pressure with seven double faults and a first-serve percentage barely above 40%. Where Krejcikova unravelled, Pegula stayed the course, drawing energy from a nearly full Arthur Ashe Stadium that sensed they were watching a home contender gather momentum.
“I started really hot and kind of was able to keep the momentum … making her move a lot and just kind of pressuring her serve as well,” she said. “I did a good job of playing the score really well, recognizing those moments, the momentum shifts.”
The match began with Krejcikova missing an overhead and donating her first double fault to drop serve at love. Pegula extended her lead to 4-2 but stumbled when she missed too many first serves, allowing Krejcikova to break back. The reprieve was fleeting. Another double fault from the Czech in the following game opened the door and Pegula kicked it down, breaking immediately and consolidating to pocket the opening set in 38 minutes. Time and again Krejcikova’s erratic toss left her scrambling, while Pegula punished the second delivery with crisp, flat returns.
Barbora Krejcikova collapsed under pressure from Jessica Pegula. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
The Czech’s troubles redoubled in the second set. She was broken at love to open, mixing in consecutive double faults, as Pegula stamped her authority once more. The fourth seed was not flawless – she double-faulted twice in a single game at 2-1 and faced a break point – but she steadied herself with a searing backhand passing winner before holding for 3-1.
When Krejcikova sprayed a forehand wide in the next game to drop serve again, Pegula had the insurance break she needed. Though she briefly relinquished one of them, the American’s control was never in real doubt. Serving for the match at 5-3, she closed it out on her second match point when Krejcikova’s forehand sailed past the baseline.
The contrast with her summer form was striking. Pegula had suffered early exits in Montreal and Cincinnati after a first-round setback at Wimbledon, cutting short one practice session in New York the week before the tournament and leaving the grounds in frustration. “Wimbledon wasn’t great,” she said. “I was playing good tennis and it just did not translate at all for that first round … I was trying a different string. I was doing, I think, too much.” The solution was to strip things back. “After Cincinnati, our goal was just to get back on track and simplify things … to get me back playing my game, and I feel like we’ve been able to do that.”
Jessica Pegula looks to the crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium after her win. Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images
She later credited a reset – “I went and did an escape room with my friends and had two drinks” – for helping shed the tension. The shift shows now. “This week I’ve really just tried to get back to competing and enjoying competing,” she said. “It’s not fun to go out there and stress yourself out … I think I always catch myself just in time.”
Long defined by her major quarter-final frustrations – she came up short in her first six appearances at that stage – Pegula has now reached consecutive semi-finals in New York, proof that last year’s breakthrough was no outlier. “To even make the second week, then quarters, semis, is a huge accomplishment,” she said. “This was my biggest accomplishment last year … now I can say I’ve done it twice.”
The 29-year-old Krejcikova, ranked No 62 but a perennial danger, departs with credit after a run that included a three-set win over Emma Navarro and an extraordinary escape against Taylor Townsend, where she saved eight match points. But those exertions caught up with her. She had spent more than eight hours on court before Tuesday and lacked the legs to sustain rallies against Pegula’s metronomic efficiency. For a player who has lifted major championships at Roland Garros and Wimbledon – in addition to 10 doubles titles – it was a reminder that pedigree alone cannot paper over a failing serve.
Quick GuideDraper out of Davis Cup tie against PolandShow
Jack Draper will miss Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Poland next weekend through injury.
The world No 5 pulled out of the US Open ahead of his scheduled second-round match because of a flare-up of the bone bruising in his left arm that had kept him sidelined since Wimbledon.
The Davis Cup World Group match in Gdynia on 12-13 September comes too soon for Draper, with questions marks over when he will be able to return.
Davis Cup captain Leon Smith said: “It goes without saying that obviously it’s a real shame that we can’t call upon Jack Draper to be in the team with his injury and of course we wish him the best with his recovery and for the rest of the season.”
In Draper’s absence, Cameron Norrie will lead Britain’s team alongside Jacob Fearnley, while there are three debutants named in Wimbledon doubles champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool plus Arthur Fery.
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Pegula, by contrast, is finding her stride in what is shaping into one of her finest seasons. She has already claimed three titles across three surfaces, joining Aryna Sabalenka as the only players to do so, and her 38 victories this year place her alongside Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina as the tour’s most prolific winners. The statistics and the poise suggest she is ready to test herself once more at the business end of a major.
Next Pegula will face the world No 1 Sabalenka after Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, withdrew before the quarter-final due to a knee injury.
There’s history to process against Sabalenka. “It would be cool to be able to get revenge,” Pegula admitted, reflecting on last year’s final. “This year I’ve come back with a different perspective … enjoy the crowd a little bit more and enjoy the fact that I’m in this position again to possibly be in another final and I’m playing the best player in the world.”
Above all, she’s leaning into experience. “I’m pretty confident with who I am, and I think I’ll always back myself and figure things out in the end,” Pegula said. “I can tap into a lot of the experience that I have … and I’m just happy I’ve been able to work my way to this point, considering where I was a few weeks ago.”