Forget about three-setters. Jessica Pegula no longer needs second sets.
No. The No. 16 seed, who was the beneficiary of a second abrupt end, has reached the semifinals at Miami Open. After the Spaniard retired after five sets, she won her quarterfinal against Paula Badosa, who was fifth.
Pegula has won four matches in this tournament so far, and only needed 5 1/2 sets to win those victories. After winning the first set, Pegula had a bye and won the next two matches in straight sets. Her fourth round match was ended when Anhelina Kalinina, unseeded, retired.
Badosa fell 4-1 on Wednesday.
Pegula stated, “Ofcourse, it’s not pleasant to win that way.” “It’s my first time ever hitting with her and I was looking forward to it because she’s had an amazing year.”
Badosa, who was No. Badosa, who was No. 71 in the world rankings last year, will rise to a career-best of No. 3. The computer numbers will be updated on Monday. She would have been No. If she had beaten Pegula, she would have been No. 2.
Badosa stated that she didn’t feel well Monday morning and was not sure if she would be able to play in the fourth round against Linda Fruhvirtova. Badosa won that match 6-2 and 6-3 but wasn’t herself Wednesday.
Pegula stated, “She’s an amazing competitor.” “I think that we all saw the last round when she clearly wasn’t feeling well but she was able fight it out. That’s something I admire a lot. Next time, we’ll be able to play when we are both healthy and feeling great and have a great match.
Pegula will now face the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal between No. 2 Iga Swaiatek, who is now No. 2 Iga Swiatek — who becomes No. 28 Petra Kvitova.
The semifinal for the other women will be played on Thursday when No. 22 Belinda Bencic will take on Naomi Osaka, who is unseeded.
Pegula spent 3 hours and 22 minutes on the court during her four matches. This is only four minutes longer than it took the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 35-0 last September at Hard Rock Stadium. Pegula has some knowledge about the game, as her parents own the Bills.
The sprawling Dolphins facility, which will also host a Formula One race later in the spring, is also the home of the Miami Open. Hard Rock Stadium houses the stadium court. While other courts have been built in areas where parking lots used to be around the stadium, the court Pegula played Wednesday was a temporary structure that was constructed on top of the Dolphins’ field.
Pegula stated, “I’ve been there before, on that field in a different situation.” “But I’m certain we have Bills fans, so it’s nice for us to get another victory in this stadium.”
Later Wednesday saw the scheduling of a pair of men’s quarterfinal matches, with No. 9 Jannik Siner against unseeded Francisco Cerundolo and second-seeded Alexander Zverev facing sixth-seeded Casper Ruud.
