January 22, (THEWILL) – Jessica Pegula, the number three seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a straight-set 7-5 6-2 win over Barbora Krejcikova.
The American was impressive throughout the match, and after coming through a tight first set, she streaked clear in the second with some aggressive tennis that underlined her pre-tournament status as one of the favourites for the title.
The first set appeared to take a decisive swing at 3-3, when Pegula broke Krejcikova to love to take a 5-3 lead. However, when the American stepped up to serve it out at 5-4, she couldn’t do so with Krejcikova earning a break back at the critical juncture.
The momentum swings kept coming through as after the marathon game at 5-5 that saw seven deuces, Pegula broke again and this time, she did serve it out – landing an incredible outside-of-the-line forehand winner on set point – to take it 7-5.
Pegula had an easier run taking the serving set and will take on the winner of Victoria Azarenka and Lin Zhu, in the last eight as she celebrates her third consecutive Australian Open quarter-final reach.
