WIMBLEDON – Marketa Vondrousova won five straight games in the final set, defeating fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4 2-6 6-4 to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Vondrousova, a left-handed Czech player who reached the 2019 French Open final, was down 4-1 in the third set but didn’t lose another game after that.
“I just try to stay in every game. “It can change pretty quickly,” Vondrousova said. “She got so much better in the second set. She pushed me today.”
Pegula is now 0-6 in the Grand Slam quarterfinals. The 29-year-old American was playing Wimbledon for the first time at this point.
Vondrousova had won just four games on grass before the tournament at the All England Club. But on the surface, she has won five in a row in the last eight days.
“My best result here was the second lap. It is wonderful. I just love weed now,” Vondrousova said.
Vondrousova’s win is her fourth win over a seeded player at this year’s Wimbledon tournament. She defeated No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova in the second round, Donna Vekic in the third round, and No. 32 Marie Bouzkova in the fourth round.
Pegula was leading 3-1 in the third set when play was halted, allowing the roof over the No. 1 pitch to be closed if it was going to rain. Pegula then held at love in the next game to lead 4-1 before Vondrousova took over.
The top seeded Iga Swiatek played against Elina Svitolina in another quarterfinal game on the center court. The four-time major champion is playing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.
The winner of this match will face Vondrousova in the semifinals.
Later on Tuesday, seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic meets Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner on the No. 1 court against Roman Safiullin in the men’s quarter-finals on Center Court.
___
AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis And https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed, or redistributed without permission.
