Swiatek Advances To Meet Sabalenka In US Open SFs; Garcia Seeks First Slam Final

Top seed Iga Swiatek held off Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach her first US Open semifinal.

Swiatek ran her record to 3-1 against the American No. 1, but it got tricky in the end.

After cruising in the opening set and building a break lead in the second, Pegula would make a match of it. The two Top 10ers traded 10 breaks in the second set alone before the world No. 1 took the breaker.

“She’s a great player,” Swiatek said. “I was trying to push her back, but she’s really good at receiving so she put pressure on me. That’s why it ended up in a tiebreaker.”

Swiatek has now won her last seven matches against Top 10 and she’s into her third semifinal of the season. She’s now 10-1 in hard court matches in Grand Slams this year.

“At the beginning of the tournament, of course you’re here to make the best result as possible,” Swiatek said. “I’m really happy that I’m working to keep my expectations low because today was such a tough match and I think that the level was great, so I’m really happy that I handled it.”

Swiatek will take a 3-1 record against Aryna Sabalenka in the Thursday night semifinal.

Sabalenka returned to the semifinals with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over former finalist Karolina Pliskova.

“I think I start really well, and the first set was really high level for me and put a lot of pressure on her,” Sabalenka said. “First set was really great. In the second set, I knew she will kind of trying to come back and she will do better. I just tried to hold my serve and try to put her under pressure on her serve.”

Sabalenka also hit three doubles faults while Pliskova tossed in six. Sabalenka, who saved two match points in the second round, is enjoying her best week since her run in New York last year when she lost to Leylah Fernandez.

“Semifinal, it’s going to be tough,” Sabalenka told the crowd. “I’m ready for another fight. I have to stay focused on myself.”

Caroline Garcia will seek her 14th straight win and reach her first Grand Slam final against Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur. Jabeur has won both her career meeting with Garcia.

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