Madison Square Garden tennis exhibition pairs Pegula with Navarro, Shelton with Alcaraz

Two of the American stars of the U.S. Open will face off at a tennis exhibition event in December. Jessica Pegula, who reached the final at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, will play semifinalist and compatriot Emma Navarro on December 4, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Garden Cup event will also see Ben Shelton, who fell to Frances Tiafoe in the third round, take on four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Pegula and Navarro both lost to eventual U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in Flushing Meadows, with Navarro taking out defending champion Coco Gauff en route to the semifinals. Navarro, 23, rose to a career-high ranking of No. 8 after the tournament, while Pegula, who returned to No. 3 in the world, beat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on the way to her first ever major final, having lost at the quarterfinal stage on six occasions.

Alcaraz lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, but returned to action on 11 September in the Davis Cup. Representing Spain, he prevailed over Tomas Machac after the Czech was forced to retire with cramp.

Madison Square Garden hosted an ITF indoor carpet tennis tournament between 1968 and 1970. It also hosted various one-night exhibition events between 2008 and 2017, including the first edition of the Billie Jean King Cup in 2009, and the “Showdown,” sponsored by BNP Paribas, between 2011 and 2017.

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(Top photos of Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula: Getty Images)