Jessica Pegula will face Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open semi-finals after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) on Wednesday in an all-American quarter-final.Pegula remains unbeaten in sets at Melbourne and is moving closer to her first major title at 31.
Her best previous performance at a Grand Slam came when she lost the 2024 US Open final to Aryna Sabalenka.“It’s awesome,” Pegula said of reaching her first Australian semi-final, having beaten defending champion Madison Keys in the previous round.“I thought it’s got to be coming (a semi-final), I feel like I play really good tennis here, I like the conditions here.“I knew she was going to step it up in the second set but I told myself to keep holding serve.She added: “It was a bit windy out there so I had to play to the conditions… I feel like when she’s down she plays like she has nothing to lose.”The Americans had met three times before, with Pegula winning all previous encounters. Pegula made a strong start at Rod Laver Arena, breaking Anisimova’s serve and quickly building a 5-1 lead. Anisimova briefly held serve but was broken again, and Pegula closed out the first set in 30 minutes, hitting six aces.Anisimova made 44 unforced errors compared to Pegula’s 21. In the second set, both players held serve until a tiebreak, where Pegula pulled away. Anisimova struggled with frustration, committing several double faults.Pegula will now face fifth seed Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka meets 12th seed Elina Svitolina in the other semi-final.
