By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Thursday, August 3, 2023
Top seed Jessica Pegula is looking to win yet another title in Washington, DC.
Yet she must next overcome the red-hot Elina Svitolina to achieve that goal.
Pegula took the next step in her quest as she advanced in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, DC.
The 2019 champion in D.C., the current World No. 4 Pegula beat impending rain and her opponent and fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last eight in the WTA 500 event.
Next up for Pegula is former World No. 3 Svitolina who has become one of the biggest stories in the sport over the last few months.
Since coming back to the tour, Svitolina has enjoyed stellar success at the majors including reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the Wimbledon semifinals.
“It's gonna be a different match probably than the previous times I have played her. I can just tell from watching her matches, yeah, I feel like she has a new perspective. So many things going on in her life,” Pegula said about the matchup.”
Pegula has a 2-1 head to head advantage over Svitolina, but all of those matches were played back in 2021. The top American realizes that Svitolina is essentially a brand new player than before.
"She's kind of come back and reset really nicely. She's been competing really, really well and playing, like, very fearless. It's definitely going to be, I think, different. It's going to be a tough match. She's been playing at a high level, and I feel like she hasn't really missed a beat much coming back.”
In D.C. Svitolina has continued her winning ways as she has defeated Victoria Azarenka and then Daria Kasatkina on her way to the quarterfinals.
“She’s an amazing competitor, obviously an amazing player. What’s she done after giving birth and everything that country is going through, it’s been really amazing,” Pegula said in her post-match interview earlier in the day.
“I feel like she’s coming back with a new perspective, a new outlook, and that’s showing on court. She’s competing really, really hard and hasn’t really seemed to skip a beat. It’s going to be really tough.”
Photo Credit: Matthew Calvis