Iga Swiatek Advances to US Open 2024 Quarterfinals with Dominant Victory Over Liudmila Samsonova
Iga Swiatek defeated No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 on Monday night in the US Open Round of 16.
Swiatek put on a dominant display. Swiatek rallied to win seven straight games following a close 4-all draw, displaying her strong form and moving on to the quarterfinals.
After defeating Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-2 on Monday, Jessica Pegula returned to the U.S. Open quarterfinals, marking her sixth appearance in that stage of a Grand Slam competition. The difficult part is about to begin: over her career, Pegula is 0-6 in major quarterfinals; her next matchup will be against No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
The sixth-seeded American Pegula, whose parents control the Buffalo Bills of the NFL and the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, is currently riding high, having won 13 of her last 14 matches, all of which have taken place on hard courts. This included winning the Canadian Open for the second time in a row and making it to the Cincinnati Open final, where she was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second.
Being the oldest remaining woman in the field, Pegula, 30, remarked, “I feel like there’s been more pressure this year, because I did so well coming into this tournament.” “Hopefully, I can save my best tennis for the later rounds this time. I just want to keep trying.”
On Monday night, Swiatek and No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova were poised at 4 all. However, Swiatek went on to win 6-4, 6-1, taking seven games in a row. Swiatek defeated Pegula in the quarterfinals of the 2022 U.S. Open to win one of her five Grand Slam championships.
Regarding Pegula, Swiatek remarked, “She’s in a good rhythm right now, and she won so many matches past weeks that, for sure, it’s going to be a challenge.”
In fact, Pegula lost two of her six Slams quarterfinal matches to top players, Swiatek and Ash Barty.
Pegula stated, “It’s just so tough, but I’ll just try to draw from those experiences and kind of how I felt going into the next match.” “I know you’re not interested in the corny response, but it’s really one game at a time, and every day is a little bit different. It all depends on who you are playing with and the circumstances at the time. Every day, there are so many different factors.
Karolina Muchova, who defeated No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon this season, 6-3, 6-3, made it back to the quarterfinals as well. After defeating 2018 Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, Muchova will next face No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia, who became the first Brazilian woman to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Maria Bueno in 1968.
In 2019, Haddad Maia, a left-hander who is 28 years old, failed a drug test and received a 10-month penalty. She had not advanced past the second round at Flushing Meadows until now, despite finishing in the semifinals of the French Open the previous year.
After making it to both the Paris final and the New York semifinals in 2023, Muchova had a breakout year. However, in October, she had surgery on her right wrist, which kept her out of competition for ten months.
“I would say that this was my worst and most serious injury. However, because I have such a passion for the game, I told myself that I would do all in my power to improve and give it my best shot, and here I am now,” said Muchova, whose U.S. Open campaign ended in a defeat to eventual champion Coco Gauff a year ago. “I’m just a really content kid right now.”
This year, Gauff was ranked third and lost to No. 13 Emma Navarro on Sunday.
On Monday, in the men’s division, No. 25 Jack Draper made history by being the first British man to get to the quarterfinals in New York since the now-retired Andy Murray in 2016. Draper, who lost to unseeded Tomas Machac in the fourth round last year, will make his Slam quarterfinal debut after defeating him 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
“It’s apparent that I miss Andy. A special thanks to Andy. What a phenomenal career the man has had. just the game’s symbol. In the changing areas, I miss him. In an all-Australian showdown with No. 10 Alex de Minaur, who defeated Jordan Thompson 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, Draper stated, “I miss being next to his stinky shoes and all his stinky clothes.” “Andy is a legend, and I’ll be happy if I have half of his career.”
No. 5 The only previous men’s champion still in the bracket, Daniil Medvedev, defeated Nuno Borges 6-0, 6-1, 6-3. The match was delayed for six minutes due to a fire alarm in the building that houses the electronic line-calling system, which also affected every other match that was in progress at the time. Either No. 14 Tommy Paul or No. 1 Jannik Sinner will face Medvedev in the quarterfinals.
When Pegula faced the 18th-seeded Shnaider, a 20-year-old Russian who competed in collegiate tennis at NC State and took home a silver medal in women’s doubles at the Olympics in Paris, everything went Pegula’s way.
Pegula won five of Shnaider’s service games, finished with 22 winners, six aces, and seven of the nine break points she faced were saved.
“I can stay into a lot of these points, these sets, and these games and be really consistent because my movement has really improved,” Pegula stated. “I’ve been doing a decent job serving. I’ve been trying to sort of get myself out of service games by serving effectively or strategically on important occasions like today when she was returning extremely well, even if it’s not working.
