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Pegula outlasts Svitolina at the US Open and will face fellow American Keys in the fourth round

Brian Mahoney

Associated Press

Tags: Elina Svitolina, Ludmilla Samsonova, Madison Keys, Sports, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula
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Jessica Pegula, of the United States, prepares to hit tennis balls into the crowd after defeating Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Madison Keys, of the United States, serves to Liudmila Samsanova, of Russia, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, left, shakes hands with Jessica Pegula, of the United States, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Marketa Vondrousova, of the Czech Republic, serves to Ekaterina Alexandrova, of Russia, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, early Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Spectators react as Jessica Pegula, of the United States, prepares to hit tennis balls into the crowd after Pegula defeated Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Jessica Pegula, of the United States, reacts during a match against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Madison Keys, of the United States, serves to Liudmila Samsanova, of Russia, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Madison Keys, of the United States, reacts to the crowd after defeating Liudmila Samsanova, of Russia, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Madison Keys, of the United States, reacts during a match against Liudmila Samsanova, of Russia, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Manu Fernandez

Jessica Pegula, of the United States, prepares to hit tennis balls into the crowd after defeating Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

NEW YORK – Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys kept noticing their names near each other in tournament draws this summer.

“We were like, ‘I think the world just wants us to play,’” Pegula said.

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At the U.S. Open, they finally will.

Pegula beat Elina Svitolina 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday, setting up a fourth-round matchup against the No. 17-seeded Keys.

Pegula, the No. 3 seed, is still trying to advance beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. First, she'll have to get by the 2017 runner-up in Flushing Meadows who also needed three sets to move on.

Keys came back to eliminate No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Ons Jabeur, the No. 5 seed who lost in the finals last year, also reached the fourth round by outlasting No. 31 Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that took 2 hours, 56 minutes. Jabeur will face No. 23 Zheng Qinwen of China, who edged Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Pegula and Keys could have met early in both Montreal and Cincinnati, but Keys had to withdraw with a hip injury in Canada — where Pegula won the title — and lost her opening match in Ohio. So they've still played only once, a victory for Pegula last year in San Diego, although the Americans sometimes hit together.

“Every time I practice with her, she just has the ability to just hit aces and rip forehands and backhands, play a really big power game,” Pegula said. “It will be interesting to see how smart I can play and what I can do to combat that.”

Other winners on the women's side Saturday included No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who routed Clara Burel 6-1, 6-1, and No. 13 Daria Kasatkina, who topped Greet Minnen 6-3, 6-4 and will face the Australian Open champion Monday. Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 9 seed, routed No. 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-1 and will face unseeded American Peyton Stearns.

Pegula found herself in a tough test with Svitolina, the No. 26 seed from Ukraine who reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2019. It was tied 2-2 in the third set before the 29-year-old from Florida broke serve to start a run of four straight games to win the match.

That put her in the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the second time. Pegula had her best result at the tournament in 2022, falling to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. She's gone that far in each Grand Slam tournament but is still seeking to reach the final four.

“She’s been showing great results,” Svitolina said. “I think she’s ready to do an extra step forward.”

___

AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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