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Jessica Pegula speeds into quarterfinals at US Open

AP photo by Heather Khalifa / Jessica Pegula acknowleges the crowd after defeating Ann Li during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday in New York.
AP photo by Heather Khalifa / Jessica Pegula acknowleges the crowd after defeating Ann Li during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday in New York. AP photo by Heather Khalifa / Jessica Pegula acknowleges the crowd after defeating Ann Li during the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday in New York.

By The Associated Press 5 min read

NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, the round that used to be her major roadblock.

The way Pegula is playing at this U.S. Open, it may be just another stop on the way back to the final.

The No. 4 seed rolled into the last eight of the women’s singles bracket in Flushing Meadows by routing fellow American player Ann Li, 6-1, 6-2, in just 54 minutes on Sunday. She will face Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic on Tuesday after the two-time Grand Slam champion fought off eight match points in a second set that ended with a 25-minute tiebreaker and beat American player Taylor Townsend 1-6, 7-6 (13), 6-3.

Townsend was trying to reach her first quarterfinal in her 31st Grand Slam appearance.

Pegula hasn’t dropped a set this year at Flushing Meadows, and only once was she even kept on court for more than 1 hour and 15 minutes.