Pegula, Osaka and Fernandez advance to US Open quarterfinals

Jessica Pegula

Three Asian women tennis players will be playing in the quarterfinals of the US Open.

You wouldn't exactly call Jessica Pegula's US Open win over fellow American Anne Li a romp, but she made it look easy, winding up with a 6-1, 7-5 victory Sunday.

Proving that the Korean American's appearance in the finals last year was no fluke, she was ready and steady throughout the match, even when Li found her game and put up a fight in the second set.

“When we got out there I did sense from the first few games that she was a little nervous,” said Pegula after the match. “I did not think that she was moving her feet and she gave me a couple of quick easy errors. I took that and ran with it. I don’t know if she was but it seemed like it to me.

“I had to get on top of her and not let her get comfortable on a big court like that," she said.

On Wednesday (Sept. 3) Pegula willl face two-time major singles champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia who beat Taylor Townsend of the US Sunday in a hard-fought three set match 6-1, 7-6, 6-3.

Naomi Ossaka

Noami Osaka

Joining Pegula in the quarterfinals Monday is No. 27 Naomi Osaka who scored an uset by easily dispatching America's Coco Gauff, who was ranked No. 4, 6-3, 6-2.

Osaka looked a lot like the younger Osaka who won Grand Slam titles, including the US Open twice in 2018 and 2020, by using her big serve and strong returns to overpower Gauff. 

“I was super locked in, to be honest. I was really locked in,” said Osaka, a 27-year-old whoplays for the country of her birth Japan. She and her family moved to the US when she was 3 years old. She lives and practices in Los Angeles.

“This is my favorite court in the world, and it means so much for me to be back here.”

Osaka will face No. 11 sed Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals on Wednesday (Sept. 3).

Leylah Fernandez

Leylah Fernandez

Also moving into the quarterfinals is Filipino Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 22, who is partnered with one of her idol, 45-year old Venus Williams, winner of 7 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam women's doubles titles

The pair, who teamed up just two days before the US Open, was the crowd favorite In front of a packed house inside Louis Armstrong Stadium. Fernandez and  continued their surprising run by beating Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai, 6-3, 6-4.

Williams and Fernandez will face their biggest challenge today (Sept. 2) yet in their next match here they are pitted against the No. 1 seed of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.

"I have full confidence in Venus, and I hope she has full confidence in me during our match," says Fernandez. "We're just going out there, playing our game: Be offensive, aggressive and ready for the ball."

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