FINALLY, A SLAM SEMI FOR PEGULA

Rib injury key to breakthrough, as she beats Swiatek for her first win in 7 Major q-finals

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Jessica Pegula credited an ill-timed injury for her victory over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the US Open on Sept 4, which propelled her into a maiden Grand Slam semi-final.

The sixth-ranked American defeated the 2022 champion and four-time French Open winner 6-2, 6-4 to end her run of losing six Major quarter-finals.

In doing so, she also extended her record to 14 wins in 15 matches on US hard courts this summer.

She believes that her charge into the semi-finals was aided by the effects of a rib injury which forced her to sit out the European claycourt swing, including the French Open.

The 30-year-old had already been sick earlier in the season following a dispiriting early exit from the Australian Open when she was "burnt out" with an "immune system that was kind of shot".

"By the time I got injured, I was ready to go. Once I kind of reset and kind of got back to normal, getting injured then kind of just made me more hungry," said Pegula.

"I was like, okay, this sucks, like, I want to be playing, like I'm ready.

To be kind of set back like that, helped me come back."

She marked her return to action by winning the grass-court title in Berlin in June.

Following second-round losses at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, Pegula has been virtually unstoppable.

She won the Toronto title on Aug 12 and finished runner-up in Cincinnati a week later.