New York | Swiatek sets up quarter-final showdown with Pegula

World No 1 Iga Swiatek has yet to drop a set at the US Open, and it was no different on Monday night when she dispatched Liudmila Samsonova on Arthur Ashe Stadium, 6-4 6-1, to reach the quarter-finals, where she will meet Jessica Pegula, who was a 6-4 6-2 winner over Diana Shnaider earlier in the day session.

At the beginning, it wasn’t easy to get the rhythm, especially because we, kind of, put our focus more on recovery than actually, you know, practicing before the Grand Slams. I, for sure, am feeling better and better every day. Iga Swiatek

The top seed is the only former women’s champion still standing in the draw, and, in her 100th Grand Slam match, the 23-year-old Pole lost only 4 points on her first serve as she took her record at the majors to 83-17.

Samsonova, the 16th seed, was seeking her first Grand Slam quarter-final, but she never got into the match, and failed to set up a single break point against a rampant Swiatek.

Down 0-3 in the second set, Samsonova fought off 3 break points in the 4th game, but then handed the clinical Swiatek the break with a double-fault.

The Russian No 16 seed’s big game kept her toe-to-toe with the Pole through much of the first set, giving fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium a peek into why she has been to this stage of a major twice before, but, once the top seed got a look at triple set point on Samsonova’s serve in the 10th game, the World No 1 ran away with the chance, and closed out the one-set lead.

“At the beginning I felt like we were playing men’s style tennis, holding serve every game,” Swiatek said on court after her match. “But I knew if I kept pushing, I would have chances to break her serve. In the second I just wanted to keep being focused, and not let my mind drift off.”

By the start of the next set, Swiatek had settled into her service game and had a firm grip on the match, winning 13 of 14 first-serve points and 56% of return points.

Two breaks of serve were all the Pole needed to shut down Samsonova’s game, and seal the win after racing out to a 5-0 lead, having not faced a single break point in the match, which took an hour and 30 minutes.

In fact, Swiatek has only lost 2 of 4 break points she has faced in the entire tournament.

© Sarah Stier/Getty Images

The top seed’s win ensures she still has a chance to add to her WTA-leading season of 57 match wins after lifting 5 titles, including her 4th Roland Garros crown, and an Olympic Bronze medal.

The French Open champion, who skipped the Toronto tune-up event, says she feels she was finally hitting her stride in New York.

“At the beginning, it wasn’t easy to get the rhythm, especially because we, kind of, put our focus more on recovery than actually, you know, practicing before the Grand Slams,” she said. “I, for sure, am feeling better and better every day.”

Swiatek got a boost as the star of one of her favourite TV shows ‘Ted Lasso’ showed up to watch her at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The annual celebrity invasion is in full swing at the year’s final major, where Vogue editor Anna Wintour and comedic actor Ben Stiller are regulars, and Swiatek was thrilled to see ‘Ted Lasso’ lead Jason Sudeikis in the stands for her win.

“I, actually, tried to avoid looking at the screens, but I saw him tonight, when I was looking at the chair umpire,” said Swiatek, who added that she appreciates the Apple TV show’s message of ‘positivity’. “I wanted to stay focused, and I hope he appreciates my mentality because this is what ‘Ted Lasso’ is all about.”

It was the second time the World No 1 got a little star struck at Flushing Meadows this year, having spoken to 23-times major winner Serena Williams, who returned to the tournament for the first time in 2 years after playing her final match on Ashe.

“It was nice that she approach me, because I wouldn’t, for sure, find courage to do that if it was the other way,” Swiatek said.

Swiatek’s next opponent in New York is a familiar one, 6th-seeded Jessica Pegula in their 3rd quarter-final meeting at a Grand Slam.

Previously, Swiatek defeated the American at this same stage en route to her 2022 Roland Garros and US Open titles, and, as they enter their 10th career meeting, the Pole holds a 6-3 advantage.

Wednesday’s match will be the pair’s first meeting this year.

“Jess is never easy to play,” Swiatek said. “She has a tricky game style, so you have to really work on your legs, and be ready for longer rallies, but also for some intense hitting. She’s a great player, so, for sure, it’s going to be a challenge.”

The World No 1 will be the favourite, and Pegula, who defeated Diana Shnaider, 6-4 6-2, admits facing Swiatek could take some pressure off.

“It depends on the day, how you’re feeling, how you’re playing once you get out there,” she said. “I mean, I don’t really know how I’m gonna feel until I, literally, am, like, first game, like, playing.

“I could play super-free, but then, at the same time, you know, she’s the number one player in the world, so, you know, she’s gonna be able to handle those pressure moments probably with experience.”

World No 6 Jessica Pegula found her way past Diana Shnaider in straight sets to make the quarter-finals and a showdown with title favourite Iga Swiatek

© Al Bello/Getty Images

Pegula is is 0-6 in major quarter-finals over her career, but is enjoying a resurgence after a patchy season during which she has had to deal with both illness and injury.

The American, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is on quite a run at the moment, having won 13 of her past 14 matches, all on hard courts, including her second consecutive title in Canada, and an appearance in the final at the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

“I feel, like, there’s been more pressure this year, because I did so well coming into this tournament,” added the 30-year-old, the oldest woman left in the field. “I want to keep working my way and, hopefully, bringing my best tennis for the later rounds this time.”

Half of Pegula’s quarter-final exits at Slams have come against a No 1 player, Swiatek twice, and Ash Barty once.

“I’ll just try to draw from those experiences and, kind of, how I felt going into the next match, but it’s just so tough,” Pegula said. “I mean, I know you don’t want the cliche answer, but it’s just, kind of, one match at a time, and every day, kind of, feels different. It depends on who you are playing, how the conditions are, when you’re playing. There are so many variables day to day.”

On Monday afternoon, the variables all went Pegula’s way against the 18th-seeded Shnaider, a 20-year-old Russian who played one season of college tennis at NC State, and won a Silver medal in women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics.

Pegula compiled 22 winners, fired 6 aces, saved 7 of 9 break points that she faced, and claimed 5 of Shnaider’s service games.

“My movement has really improved, which has really helped me stay into a lot of these points, and these sets, and these games, and be super-consistent,” Pegula said. “I’ve been serving pretty well. Even if it’s not working, I’ve been, kind of, getting myself out of service games by serving smart, or serving well in big moments like today, where she was returning really well.”

20-year old Diana Shnaider was a tricky opponent for 6th-seeded Jessica Pegula but could not get past the American’s consistency on Monday afternoon

© Kena Betan Cur/AFP via Getty Images

It was an impressive win in an hour and 27 minutes against the dangerous, kerchief-wearing, left-handed  Russian, who has zoomed from outside the Top 100 to 18 in the rankings.

She has a wicked serve and a typically volatile southpaw forehand that packs plenty of power, while she plays with a great deal of risk.

Pegula knew she was in danger from the get-go, forced to weather 5 deuces and 4 break points before she levelled at 1-1, but the American then jumped out to a 5-2 lead, before taking her foot off the gas, and getting broken in the next game.

After Shnaider held, Pegula fought off 2 more break points, and, ultimately, handcuffed Shnaider with an unplayable body serve, before forcing a forehand error to lock up the set, expertly handling the lefty serve

“Holding serve at the end of the first set was really important,” Pegula said. “Then I was able to be [more] aggressive on my returns.”

After an exchange of holds to start the second, Pegula forced Shnaider to 4 deuces before the Russian coughed up a game-ending double-fault.

With the break in hand, Pegula began striking the ball freely, and while Shnaider was still competitive, at 2-4 the American caught her out of position with a slice forehand drop-shot combination in an extended rally that sent her on way to the quarters.

The American won 80% of her first-service points against Shnaider, and her defence was impeccable in the rallies as she staved off 7 of the 9 break points she faced.

After a tough opening half of the year, which included missing the entire European clay-court swing prior to Wimbledon, the former World No 3 has lined up another chance to make a long-awaited first Grand Slam semi-final, but she faces the stiffest of challenges in Swiatek.

This will be the 10th career meeting between the two, and although Swiatek leads 6-3, the Pole has nothing but the utmost respect for how difficult Pegula make things for her.

This is a rematch of the WTA Finals Championship match last autumn, which was the last time the two met, and where Swiatek dropped just one game in Cancun, exacting revenge for a big win for Pegula in the semi-finals of Montreal earlier that summer.