Jessica Pegula is having a dream run at the Australian Open, where she is playing her quarterfinal match against fellow American Amanda Anisimova at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. The 31-year-old American is attempting to break the quarterfinal curse in Melbourne, as she has been knocked out of the tournament at this stage three times before.
With Coco Gauff out, only Pegula and Anisimova are the last remaining American players in the women’s singles draw, and only one will advance to the semifinals, where they will face reigning WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina, who breezed past Iga Swiatek in straight sets in the quarterfinals earlier.
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While Pegula will be eyeing a win today, she had some interesting moments to share from the Australian Open in the latest episode of the Player’s Box podcast. In the other news segment of the podcast, Pegula shared that her physio saw her father running a press conference on ESPN when the Buffalo Bills decided to fire long-time coach Sean McDermott after failing to advance to the conference championship yet again.
“The Bills, unfortunately, lost. We’ve been quite in the news. We lost against Denver. There is a lot of controversy with our final catch on the final drive, and then we ended up firing our coach a couple of days later. It was pretty funny, actually, the day before my match, and then my dad and the GM had a press conference, and it was on ESPN,” Pegula said.
“So, I was in the physio room and ESPN is on and JP my physio said, “is that your dad?” And I was like oh god. It was the press conference. Yeah, people are kind of losing their minds so, I don’t really know what else to say. It will be interesting, obviously I can’t divulge too much,” she added.
Jessica Pegula Will be Backing Her Positive Momentum Against Anisimova at the Australian Open
Pegula has been dominant in the Australian swing, reaching the semifinals at Brisbane International and now reaching the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam without dropping a set. But Anisimova could be her sternest test yet, as the American No. 2 has been on the ascendancy, reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open last year.
Pegula last reached the finals of a Grand Slam at the 2024 US Open, where she lost in straight sets to Aryna Sabalenka. But this year, a revitalized Pegula is aiming to cause major upsets and, hopefully, win the maiden Grand Slam of her professional career.
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