Pegula Outlasts Svitolina at US Open, to Face Fellow American Keys in Fourth Round

USA's Jessica Pegula waves after defeating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during the US Open tennis tournament women's singles third round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
USA's Jessica Pegula waves after defeating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during the US Open tennis tournament women's singles third round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
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Pegula Outlasts Svitolina at US Open, to Face Fellow American Keys in Fourth Round

USA's Jessica Pegula waves after defeating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during the US Open tennis tournament women's singles third round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
USA's Jessica Pegula waves after defeating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during the US Open tennis tournament women's singles third round match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 2, 2023. (AFP)

Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys kept noticing their names near each other in tournament draws this summer.

“We were like, ‘I think the world just wants us to play,’” Pegula said.

At the US Open, they finally will.

Pegula beat Elina Svitolina 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday, setting up a fourth-round matchup against the No. 17-seeded Keys.

Pegula, the No. 3 seed, is still trying to advance beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. First, she'll have to get by the 2017 runner-up in Flushing Meadows who also needed three sets to move on.

Keys came back to eliminate No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Ons Jabeur, the No. 5 seed who lost in the finals last year, also reached the fourth round by outlasting No. 31 Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that took 2 hours, 56 minutes. Jabeur will face No. 23 Zheng Qinwen of China, who edged Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Pegula and Keys could have met early in both Montreal and Cincinnati, but Keys had to withdraw with a hip injury in Canada — where Pegula won the title — and lost her opening match in Ohio. So they've still played only once, a victory for Pegula last year in San Diego, though do hit together sometimes.

“Every time I practice with her, she just has the ability to just hit aces and rip forehands and backhands, play a really big power game,” Pegula said. “It will be interesting to see how smart I can play and what I can do to combat that.”

Other winners on the women's side Saturday included No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who routed Clara Burel 6-1, 6-1, and No. 13 Daria Kasatkina, who topped Greet Minnen 6-3, 6-4 and will face the Australian Open champion Monday. Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 9 seed, routed No. 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-1 and will face unseeded American Peyton Stearns.

Pegula found herself in a tough test with Svitolina, the No. 26 seed from Ukraine who reached the US Open semifinals in 2019. It was tied 2-2 in the third set before the 29-year-old from Florida broke serve to start a run of four straight games to win the match.

That put her in the fourth round of the US Open for the second time. Pegula had her best result at the tournament in 2022, falling to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. She's gone that far in each Grand Slam tournament but is still seeking to reach the final four.

“She’s been showing great results,” Svitolina said. “I think she’s ready to do an extra step forward.”



Assefa Wins London Marathon Women's Race after Late Breakaway


Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa, left, and Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei, right, compete in the women's elite race

Bridge during the TCS London Marathon, Sunday April 27, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa, left, and Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei, right, compete in the women's elite race Bridge during the TCS London Marathon, Sunday April 27, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
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Assefa Wins London Marathon Women's Race after Late Breakaway


Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa, left, and Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei, right, compete in the women's elite race

Bridge during the TCS London Marathon, Sunday April 27, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa, left, and Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei, right, compete in the women's elite race Bridge during the TCS London Marathon, Sunday April 27, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia secured her first London Marathon title Sunday after pulling away from Joyciline Jepkosgei near the end.

Assefa finished in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds, the fastest ever in a women's-only marathon — but 25 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race, The AP news reported.

Assefa finished second both in London and at the Paris Olympics last year but adds this title to two Berlin Marathon wins. Unlike in Paris, she made sure there would be no sprint finish this time as she left Jepkosgei behind with a few kilometers left and ran alone along the Thames and through central London to the finish in front of Buckingham Palace.

Jepkosgei, the 2021 London winner, was almost three minutes back. Olympic champion Sifan Hassan was third.