Jessica Pegula. Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Jessica Pegula keeps American hopes alive at U.S. Open

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 8:19 AM ET

Last year, Jessica Pegula lost in the U.S. Open final to Aryna Sabalenka.

Exactly a year later, the American has the opportunity to exact revenge on the World No. 1, this time in the semifinal.

Pegula clinched her berth in the final four with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 victory over Barbora Krejcikova in Tuesday's quarterfinal. The win cemented her ongoing dominance at Flushing Meadows as she has steamrolled all five of her opponents thus far in straight sets.

At a time when other young Americans, such as Coco Gauff (21), Emma Navarro (24), Amanda Anisimova (24) and Sofia Kenin (26), are on the rise, Pegula has become a symbol of consistency, even into her 30s.

According to OptaAce, the World No. 4 Pegula is just the third American to reach back-to-back U.S. Open semifinals after turning 30, joining the legendary duo of Chris Evert and Serena Williams.

3 - Jessica Pegula is the third American to reach back-to-back Women’s Singles semi-finals at the US Open after turning 30 along with Chris Evert and Serena Williams. Home. #USOpen | @usopen @WTA pic.twitter.com/a5l0bVhHpT
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 2, 2025

As consistent as Pegula has been, Sabalenka has proved to be her Achilles' heel. Pegula has lost to the Belarusian in three consecutive finals — the 2025 Miami Open, 2024 U.S. Open and 2024 Cincinnati Open. The native New Yorker is hoping that her hometown fans' energy will help her overcome her biggest rival on Thursday. She also has revenge on her mind.

"It would be cool to be able to get revenge, obviously," Pegula said, via WTA Tour. "It's going to be a tough challenge. But at the end of a Slam, you expect that to happen, and you expect people to be playing their best tennis and to be playing the best players, because those are the players that are playing the best."

In last year's U.S. Open final, Pegula pushed Sabalenka to the brink but could not force a tiebreaker in either set of her 5-7, 5-7 loss. Reflecting on the defeat, Pegula believes she was "right there" but couldn't make the crucial points in a hard-fought match.

"This year I’ve come back with a different perspective, knowing that I wasn’t playing well, to really enjoy the fact that this is pretty cool," Pegula added.

If Pegula prevails, she'll become the first American since Serena Williams (2018, 2019) to reach back-to-back U.S. Open finals.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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