US Open: Jessica Pegula’s 7th Grand Slam quarterfinal will be against No. 1 Iga Swiatek

BY HOWARD FENDRICH

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider on Monday, her seventh trip to that round at a Grand Slam tournament. Now comes the hard part: Pegula is 0-6 in major quarterfinals over her career — and this next one will come against No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

The No. 6-seeded Pegula, an American whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is on quite a run at the moment, having won 13 of her past 14 matches, all on hard courts. That included her second consecutive title in Canada and an appearance in the final at the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

“I feel like there’s been more pressure this year, because I did so well coming into this tournament,” said the 30-year-old Pegula,