Jessica Pegula cruises into U.S. Open quarterfinals

Jessica Pegula made short work of her Round of 16 match on Monday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider at New York.

Pegula, the No. 2 seed, reached the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam event for the seventh time and the second time at a U.S. Open (2022). The Buffalo, N.Y., native and Florida resident has never advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal in singles.

"I feel like there's been more pressure this year, because I did so well coming into this tournament," Pegula said. "I want to keep working my way and hopefully bringing my best tennis for the later rounds this time."

Pegula, 30, broke Shnaider's serve in the third game of the opening set, immediately was broken back and then seized control with another break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Pegula broke Shnaider's serve twice more in the second set to finish off the victory.

The No. 18-seed Shnaider, a Russia native, won just 59 percent of her first-serve points and saw Pegula deliver six aces to one of her own.

Pegula is now 13-1 since the North American hard-court season began, winning at Canada and reaching the final at Cincinnati.

Pegula will next face the winner of Monday's match between No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.

Unseeded Karolina Muchova of Czechia also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 upset victory over Italy's Jasmine Paolini, the No. 5 seed.

Muchova, who reached the 2023 French Open final and the 2023 U.S. Open semifinals, missed 10 months after right wrist surgery last October.

"This was my worst and most serious injury, I would say," Muchova said. "But, I mean, I love the sport, so in my head, I was like, 'I will do everything I could to (get) better and try.' And here I am today. I'm just a really happy kid now."

Muchova had 17 winners to 10 for Paolini and won 82 percent of her first-serve points.

Paolini had the early advantage by breaking Muchova's serve early in the match and taking a 3-1 lead in the opening set. But Muchova rallied to break Paolini twice in the first set and two more times in the second set before closing out the match.