Jessica Pegula has made it to the semifinals at the US Open. © APA/afp / KENA BETANCUR

Pegula overcomes Swiatek – Draper storms into the semifinals

World number one Iga Swiatek suffered a surprising defeat in the quarterfinals of the US Open. The 2022 Polish winner lost to Jessica Pegula 2:6, 4:6.

September 05, 2024

From: dpa

The 30-year-old American further fueled US tennis fans' hopes of a home victory in front of gymnastics superstar Simone Biles and reached a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in her career.

Swiatek, on the other hand, missed the chance to win her sixth Grand Slam title. The 23-year-old started weakly and quickly fell behind 0:4. After just 37 minutes, Pegula had won the first set.
In the second set, Swiatek continued to make minor errors, especially with her forehand. After the break to 3:4, she hit the net with her racket. Her final attempt came too late, and the Pole made a total of 41 unforced errors.

The other semi-finals will be contested by world number two Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus and the American Emma Navarro. Last year, US crowd favorite Coco Gauff won the title.

Draper's fairy tale continues

Briton Jack Draper has continued his strong run at the US Open and is surprisingly in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time. The 22-year-old also won comfortably against the number ten seeded Australian Alex de Minaur in New York 6:3, 7:5, 6:2. This means that Draper has not dropped a set in the entire tournament.

The world number 25 now challenges Jannik Sinner or former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev from Russia (Thursday 3.00:XNUMX a.m. CEST). "I'm definitely going to watch it tonight and enjoy it," said Draper in the winner's interview on the court. His best Grand Slam result to date was last year when he reached the round of XNUMX at the US Open.

Jack Draper remains in the race. © ANSA / CJ GUNTHER

"It's great. Playing on the biggest court in the world for the first time is a dream for me," said Draper at Arthur Ashe Stadium, modestly adding: "I played a solid match."

In the previous matches at this US Open, Draper had always been the favorite - but now he gave the slightly higher-rated de Minaur no chance. In the three previous direct duels, the Australian had prevailed in each case.