Pegula is back in US Open quarters after a fourth-round romp

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, which used to be her roadblock.

The way Pegula is playing at this U.S. Open, it may be just another stop on the way back to the final.

Pegula rolled into the last eight by routing fellow American Ann Li 6-1, 6-2 in just 54 minutes on Sunday. The No. 4 seed hasn't dropped a set this year at Flushing Meadows, and only once was she even kept on court for more than 1 hour, 15 minutes.

“Probably the best match, honestly, I’ve played since, like, before Wimbledon I feel like from the start to finish. So that was encouraging,” Pegula said. “I was just hitting the ball, doing everything well, executing my strategy very well and got through it pretty quick.”

Pegula had been 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals before upsetting Iga Swiatek in that round last year. She went on to reach the final, where was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka. But she wasn't sure her tennis was ready for a follow-up when she returned to New York.

She had lost four of her previous six singles matches coming into the U.S. Open, and said she played so poorly while practicing with Sabalenka a few days before the tournament that she stopped early, opting instead for an escape room with some friends and a couple of drinks.

Things have certainly gotten better since.

“Like I said, I haven’t been feeling my best on court, so to be able to come back and make another quarterfinal here is something I’m definitely proud of,” Pegula said. “Of course, I want to go further and do more and win the tournament, but I feel like just on a personal kind of goal level, I’m happy with the way I’ve been able to kind of turn some of my tennis around the last few weeks.”

Pegula will face either two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova or another American, Taylor Townsend, on Tuesday. They were in a third set Sunday after Krejcikova fought off eight match points in a second set that ended with a 25-minute tiebreaker.

The 58th-ranked Li was the highest-ranked player Pegula has faced in the tournament, but the 25-year-old was overpowered in her first appearance in the round of 16 in a major. Pegula broke her all four times she served in the 25-minute first set, and she had just five winners against 19 unforced errors in the match.

What else happened Sunday?

Carlos Alcaraz hit a behind-the-back shot to win a point in a 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Arthur Rinderknech that made the Spaniard the youngest man in the Open era to reach 13 Grand Slam quarterfinals. Novak Djokovic was on the schedule along with Sabalenka and Taylor Fritz, last year's runner-up and the only American man remaining.

Who is on Monday’s schedule?

Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka will meet in a fourth-round matchup, six years after Osaka beat a then-15-year-old Gauff in the same round. Wimbledon champions Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek also will be in action as the remaining quarterfinal matchups are set.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis