Jessica Pegula edges Leylah Fernandez to reach U.S. Open fourth round
NEW YORK – Jessica Pegula walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday carrying the weight of expectation. She walked out carrying something else: proof that her Grand Slam title push has real steel behind it.
The third seed was outplayed, outpaced and almost run out of the tournament by Leylah Fernandez, but turned a ragged start into a gutsy 1-6 6-4 6-3 win to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
First Set
For a set, it was a mismatch.
Back on the court where her 2021 fairytale ended in the final against Emma Raducanu, the 23-year-old Fernandez looked completely at home. She flew out of the blocks, took time away from Pegula and never let the American settle. Pegula’s timing deserted her. Fernandez’s did not.
The Canadian dictated with her left-handed firepower, driving Pegula back with heavy, deep groundstrokes and then cutting the ball with clever changes of pace and angle. Pegula’s usually reliable baseline game frayed under the pressure as Fernandez ripped through the opener in just 30 minutes.
Pegula looked flat. Fernandez looked like the former finalist she is.
Match Turnaround
Then the match turned.
Pegula began to find length on her returns, to hold her ground on the baseline instead of retreating. At 3-2 in the second set, she carved out the first real opening and broke in the sixth game, a jolt that finally gave the home crowd something to grab onto.
The next game became a test of nerve. Pegula faced a surge from Fernandez, who refused to let go of the momentum she had built. Pegula dug in, survived a tense service game and held, a small moment that carried big significance.
Fernandez pushed again, trying to reel the set back, but Pegula’s composure held. The American tightened up her patterns, cut out the cheap errors and forced a deciding set.
Deciding Set
By then, the match felt different.
The 32-year-old Pegula, who finished runner-up here in 2024, leaned on her experience early in the third, saving break points that could have flipped the contest back toward Fernandez. Those escapes mattered. They gave Pegula the platform she needed.
At 2-1, the pressure finally told at the other end. Fernandez sent a shot wide to hand Pegula the break for 3-1, and the American did not look back. Her serve grew heavier, her backhand more assertive, the rallies shorter and sharper.
Fernandez kept swinging, but the initiative had gone.
Pegula closed the door with authority, cruising through the closing games and sealing victory at the net, punching away a backhand volley on match point to complete the comeback.
She moves on to face Sorana Cirstea in the last 16. The start against Fernandez will concern her, the response will not. If Pegula can smooth out the rough edges without losing this edge of defiance, her search for a first Grand Slam title will not stay a “bid” for long.
