Pegula powers past Cirstea as Romanian bids farewell to US Open

Jessica Pegula kept her bid for a first Grand Slam title alive with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sorana Cirstea, whose late-career revival ended with her final Grand Slam appearance.

The opening set was scrappy, with only three holds between the players. Pegula repeatedly gave Cirstea opportunities, including a double fault while serving for the set, then squandered four set points before converting the fifth after the 16th seed dropped serve again.

The second set followed a similar pattern, but Pegula secured one more break than Cirstea to create the difference. The American had needed three sets to beat fellow US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the previous round.

“

I have a lot of respect for her. She's such a great competitor.

Cirstea had enjoyed a late-career renaissance, reaching a career-high top-20 ranking, but plans to retire at the end of the season. Pegula had beaten her in the Cincinnati Open round of 16 three weeks earlier, making this her second victory over the Romanian in that span.

“I have a lot of respect for her. She's such a great competitor,” Pegula said on Louis Armstrong Court. “We actually hadn't played in a while up until the last few weeks. They were two really tough matches. It was definitely really intense.” Pegula will face the winner of the late match between American Emma Navarro and Russia's Anna Kalinskaya for a place in the semifinals.

“

We actually hadn't played in a while up until the last few weeks. They were two really tough matches. It was definitely really intense.