CNN
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There will be more American representation in the women’s quarterfinals at the US Open, as Jessica Pegula advanced to the last eight in New York for the second time in three years with her victory over Diana Shnaider (6-4, 6-2) on Monday.

Pegula defeated her young Russian opponent in an hour and 27 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals alongside compatriot Emma Navarro after beating reigning champion and world number three Coco Gauff on Sunday.

After breaking twice in the first set, winning three games in a row and coming within one game of the opening set, Pegula had to fend off a wave of attacks from Shnaider. The 20-year-old Russian broke and put the sixth seed under pressure, but Pegula held her nerve and served out the set on the second attempt.

Amid cheers from the partisan home crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, the 30-year-old broke Shnaider’s serve in the third game of the second set and then again in the seventh game, putting her just one set away from reaching the quarterfinals.

This time, Shnaider was unable to make such a comeback, and Pegula finished the match with an ace to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the seventh time in his career.

The Buffalo native has recently hit her best form of the season on North American hard courts, defending her Canadian Open title before reaching the final of the Cincinnati Open – her loss to world number two Aryna Sabalenka in Ohio is her only defeat in her last 14 matches.

Her entry into the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows is her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament this year, after she was eliminated in the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and had to miss the French Open due to injury.

“I feel like the pressure was more this year because I started this tournament so well,” Pegula said on court after the match. “To still be able to win, I probably played my best game on court today, so I want to keep working on myself and hopefully show my best tennis in the later rounds.”

“There’s always a lot of pressure here, but it’s fun, it’s nice, I like it. It’s always nice to be an American here and have all the support.”

Pegula hopes to finally make it to the quarterfinals – she is currently 0-6 ahead in Grand Slams.

In the next round she will face either Liudmila Samsonova or world number one Iga Świątek.

Karolína Muchová’s impressive run at the US Open continues.

The resurgent Czech defeated fifth-seeded Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals.

Seemingly finally free of the injuries that have held her back throughout her career, the 28-year-old has scored major victories on her way to the last eight, knocking out Naomi Osaka in the second round and world number 38 Anastasia Potapova in the third round.

Paolini came into the clash with more Grand Slam tennis tournament wins than any other player this year, having reached the finals at both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, but she was no match for the inspired Muchová, who is currently playing the best tennis of her career and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

She reached the semifinals of the US Open last year and reached her highest ranking to date of No. 8 in the world rankings, but was then hit by injury and had to end her season shortly after due to wrist surgery. She had also previously suffered back, abdominal and ankle injuries.

Muchová was out for nine months, only returning in Eastbourne in June this year. Now unseeded in Flushing Meadows, she has looked almost unbeatable at times as she tries to defend a pile of ranking points from 2023.

She has produced some spectacular tennis matches so far, including a stunning lob from behind in her first round match. She has also used the “SABR” – an acronym for “Sneak Attack by Roger” popularized by the legendary Roger Federer. The SABR is when a player aggressively attacks a second serve by leaving the court on the return and heading to the net to finish the point.

In the quarterfinals she will face either Caroline Wozniacki or Beatriz Haddad Maia.