Jessica Pegula defeated top seed Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, extending American success at the US Open. Meanwhile, men’s world number one Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev to advance to the semi-finals.
Rahul Dravid ended his time as Team India’s head coach successfully by guiding the team to win the ICC T20 World Cup. India emerged victorious over South Africa in the final, securing a seven-run win in an exciting match in June. Dravid played a crucial role in helping India win the prestigious trophy through his leadership.
Swiatek and Medvedev’s defeats guarantee that the US Open will have two different champions this year.
Sinner is set to compete against Jack Draper in a bid to secure a place in the second Grand Slam final following Draper’s unexpected victory over Australian Alex de Minaur, making him the first British man to reach the semifinals since 2012.
After losing six Grand Slam quarterfinals, Pegula will face Karolina Muchova, who defeated Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1 6-4 despite being unseeded and battling an illness in the day session at Arthur Ashe stadium. Pegula may face various problems in the match.
I believed I had played a very neat game. I feel like I didn’t do anything too terrible, and managed to catch her early on and I think it annoyed her. The 2022 champion Swiatek faced difficulties in the opening set due to service issues and committed 41 unforced errors throughout the match.
The Pole had difficulties with her serve from the beginning, allowing Pegula to quickly take a 4-0 lead in the first set. Swiatek seemed more focused when she broke Pegula in the beginning of the second set, but she couldn’t get her momentum back as Pegula, the sixth seeded American, broke back and ultimately won the match. Pegula much thrilled towards match.
Swiatek expressed regret over not comprehending the reason behind her malfunctioning serve. Finding a suitable solution for that was difficult for me. Today, I simply made an excessive amount of mistakes.
2021 champion Medvedev also struggled with errors, committing 57 unforced mistakes during a back-and-forth match against top seed Sinner. The Russian was unable to take advantage of the momentum he had after winning the second set, dropping five consecutive games in the third set before making an unforced error and giving Sinner a break in the fourth set.
Sinner commented that the first two sets were unusual as the player who achieved the first break of serve gained momentum, after defeating Medvedev in the Australian Open final but losing to him in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
“It was extremely challenging… we were aware it would be very demanding physically,” Sinner stated.
Draper advanced to his inaugural Grand Slam semifinal with a flawless record in the tournament, securing his maiden win against 10th seed De Minaur. The Australian struggled to locate his aim from the beginning and was quickly broken, establishing the pace of the game as he accumulated the unforced mistakes.
The player from Australia managed to even the score in the second set at 4-4, but then Draper broke back in the 11th game, ultimately taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
Draper’s dominance and accuracy in the third set exhausted De Minaur, who has been dealing with a hip problem since Wimbledon. De Minaur commented that the toll on the body is due to his ability to spread the court as a lefty and move players around. Accumulating matches also has a negative impact.
It has been since 2012 when Andy Murray won the title that Britain has not had a player in the men’s singles semifinals at the US Open. Draper stated that he feels the best he has felt in terms of fitness in a very long time, crediting Alex for his improvement.
In the first match of the day, Muchova kept up her comeback from a lengthy break due to a wrist injury she suffered last year at Flushing Meadows. During just her sixth tournament since returning to the tour, Muchova started strong by taking a 4-0 lead against Haddad Maia before winning the first set.
In the second set, the Brazilian player showed improvement as both players broke each other’s serves. Muchova called for medical assistance before holding her serve at 5-3 and ultimately winning the match with an ace using new balls.
“I believe I performed strongly in crucial moments, like when facing a breakpoint or serving for a game, I consistently delivered a good shot,” Muchova stated. I’m pleased that I accomplished it.