The last time Jessica Pegula faced a compatriot in the Australian Open quarterfinals, she fell in three sets to eventual finalist Jennifer Brady in 2021.

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Five years later, it was Pegula who reigned victorious in an all-American affair, outlasting No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 7-6 (1) in 1 hour and 35 minutes on Wednesday to reach her first Australian Open semifinal, where she’ll face Elena Rybakina.

“It’s awesome,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “I’ve been able to go deeper at the US Open the last couple years, but here was the first Slam that I really broke through at. And I was a three, and then this year, four-time quarterfinalist.

“I was like, ‘It’s got to be coming, you know. The next round, I’ve got to get to the semi.’ Because I feel like I play some really good tennis here and I like the conditions. And I’ve always felt like, even matches I’ve lost here, that I’ve played well. So I’ve been waiting for the time where I could kind of break through.”

It’s the third time Pegula has advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal, and her first time at a Major other than the US Open. She did it by continuing her dominance against fellow Americans.

The win marked her eighth straight victory over an American at a Grand Slam. She also became the first American woman to defeat three compatriots in a single Australian Open since Gigi Fernández accomplished the feat in 1993. Pegula beat McCartney Kessler in the second round, defending champion Madison Keys in the fourth round and Anisimova in the quarters.

She also improved to 4-0 against Anisimova at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.

Here’s how she got it done:

Keeping it clean: Both Pegula and Anisimova reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set. But while that suggested both were in top form, Anisimova’s path had been far shakier than the scorelines indicated.

The World No. 4 entered the match averaging 28 unforced errors across the first four rounds, and the trend continued. She finished with 44 unforced errors, including seven double faults in the second set alone, to just 18 winners.

Pegula, meanwhile, kept it clean. She hit 21 unforced errors to 20 winners, and aside from a costly double fault while serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, she kept her margins tight throughout.

Serving superiority: Overall, the 31-year-old out-served her opponent. While Anisimova landed a slightly higher percentage of first serves (61% to 60%), Pegula dominated nearly every other category. 

She struck more aces (six to two), committed fewer double faults (two to seven) and won a higher percentage of first-serve points (70% to 58%). The biggest difference came on second serve, where Pegula won an impressive 64% (16 of 25) of those points compared to 39% (11 of 28) for Anisimova.

Pegula punished Anisimova’s second serve, routinely stepping in and attacking. It was part of a concerted effort; one she executed from start to finish.

Aggressive returning: Thanks in large part to winning more than 60% of points on Anisimova’s second serve, Pegula generated 11 break points, including seven in the second set alone. She converted four, two in each set.

While the first set was straightforward, the second set was anything but. After Anisimova earned her first break of the match for a 5-3 lead, giving herself a chance to serve out the set, Pegula immediately broke back. She held in the next game, then broke again for a 6-5 with the help of a forehand winner that set up her second break point.

Serving for the match, Pegula was broken again, sending the set to a tiebreak.

“I felt like I was winning a lot of the points,” Pegula said. “I felt like I could win the rallies and I felt like I could put pressure on her serve. So (after I was broken), I just told myself to, ‘Gear right back up. You’ve got to win this tiebreak unless you want to go to a third set.’ And I really didn’t want to. So luckily, yeah, I was able to kind of flip that switch.

“When she’s down, she really plays with nothing to lose and that’s really dangerous. So I’m happy I was just able to flip that in the tiebreak.”

Pegula grabbed the first mini-break at 3-1, then took another point off Anisimova’s serve for a 4-1 lead as frustration began to set in for the two-time Grand Slam finalist. Pegula capitalized, reeling off seven straight points to close out the match and book a semifinal date with Rybakina.

What’s next: “She has a massive serve, big groundies, cool as a cucumber, you get nothing out of her,” Pegula said of Rybakina. “And she’s been playing some great tennis, honestly since the end of last year. But I’m going to do my best to hopefully crack the code on her for the next round and we’ll see how it goes.”

Pegula and Rybakina have split their six career meetings. Pegula won their first matchup in Miami in 2022, but Rybakina claimed their most recent encounter, rallying from a set down in the semis of the WTA Finals a few months ago.

A win would send Pegula to her first Australian Open final, while for Rybakina, a second appearance in the championship match is on the line.