Jessica Pegula has advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals for the second straight year, after defeating Barbora Krejčíková in straight sets on Tuesday, 6-3, 6-3.

Pegula, 31, is seeded fourth at the U.S. Open and aiming for her first Grand Slam championship, and has been dominant throughout her run in Flushing Meadows. She has not lost a set across her first five matches of the tournament. Pegula and No. 8 Amanda Anisimova are the only Americans left in the women’s singles field.

Pegula started strong to jump ahead 3-0 before Krejčíková began to settle in. The Czech player, who owns both French Open and Wimbledon singles titles, managed to close the gap to 4-3. But Pegula quickly reasserted control, closing out the set by taking the final two games.  However in the second set, Krejčíková struggled to find consistency on serve and her difficulties gave Pegula the opportunity to capitalize. Krejčíková managed to win just 43% of points behind her first serve and only 31% on her second, numbers Pegula punished on her way to a comfortable victory.

Pegula said after the match: “I think I’ve been playing some really good tennis I’ve just been playing very solid. I’ve been having very good quick starts, so I really wanted to do that today, especially against someone like (Krejcikova) who’s very dangerous … It’s crazy to look now and think that I’m really comfortable coming out here playing on big courts in big matches on the best court in the world with the craziest crowd against the best players. It’s pretty crazy, and it’s something 10 years ago I never thought I’d be good at this, but I guess I am.”

Pegula will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals on Thursday. Sabalenka was set to face Markéta Vondroušová in the quarterfinals on Tuesday evening, but Vondroušová was forced to withdraw from the match after injuring herself in practice. Vondroušová released a statement which read: “I am sorry to announce that I have to withdraw from my quarterfinal match this evening due to a knee injury. I tried my best to take the court today but during the warm-up I felt again my knee and after consultation with the tournament doctor decided not to risk aggravating the injury. I appreciate all the support this tournament and apologize to the fans who were looking forward to the match. I had an amazing time here in NY and can’t wait to be back next year.”

Editorial credit: Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com