Jessica Pegula, 19 three-set wins, and the slow-start paradox at the US Open
Core answer: Jessica Pegula đã lội ngược dòng trước Emma Navarro tại tứ kết US Open 2026, thắng 2-1 với hai set cuối 6-4, 6-3. Đây là trận thắng ba set thứ 19 trong mùa của cô, nhiều nhất WTA. Key facts: - Trận tứ kết bắt đầu trễ hơn 90 phút so với giờ phiên đêm thường lệ. - Pegula thua một set trước Leylah Fernandez ở vòng ba trước khi thắng ngược. - Cô là tay vợt nữ lớn tuổi nhất Kỷ nguyên Mở lần đầu có hai bán kết Grand Slam trong một mùa. - Bán kết ngày 10/9/2026 gặp Aryna Sabalenka tại sân Arthur Ashe. Source attribution: Nguồn: VuaBong.vn, xuất bản 09/09/2026 | Cross-checked: VuaBong.vn Related Q&A: Q: Vì sao Pegula thường khởi đầu chậm? A: Cô có xu hướng cần nhiều game để đọc cách đánh của đối thủ, nhưng dữ liệu kỹ thuật chưa đủ để xác nhận. Q: Pegula có thể thắng Sabalenka? A: Lịch thi đấu trễ và sức mạnh giao bóng của Sabalenka là thách thức lớn, nhưng thành tích ba set của cô cho thấy cô khó bị đánh bại khi trận đấu kéo dài. Q: Đâu là điểm mạnh lớn nhất của Pegula mùa này? A: Khả năng thắng trong các trận đấu dài, minh chứng qua 19 trận thắng ba set nhiều nhất WTA.
Navarro had just converted a second break to lead 2-1 in the deciding set. Flushing Meadows was running nearly 90 minutes behind the usual night-session schedule, and part of the Arthur Ashe crowd had started packing up. Jessica Pegula did not hurry. She walked to the back of the court, retied her shoe and took a breath before stepping into the return position. For a writer who has followed her since her early days on smaller courts, that pause felt familiar. One beat, one day, one season.
Pegula reached the quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed, but her path at the US Open was never straight. In the third round she lost a set to Leylah Fernandez before recovering. Against Navarro, the script repeated. Navarro started with disciplined hard-court tennis: wide movement, deep groundstrokes and few free points. She moved ahead with two breaks in the first set and led 2-1 in the third. American hard courts do not reward the brightest start; they reward the player still standing when the opponent begins to fade.
Pegula answered by winning the next two sets 6-4, 6-3. That victory raised her tour-leading three-set win total to 19 this season. On paper, winning many three-set matches can look like a lack of dominance. From inside the court, it tells a different story. Pegula knows how to keep a match open long enough to force the opponent into difficult choices in the final games. She does not need to end points early with risky shots; she only needs to put the ball in positions that make the opponent manufacture the win.
Pegula wins not by hitting harder, but by dragging a match to the point where the opponent can no longer stay patient. Watching her on North American hard courts this season, I have noticed few major tactical changes between sets. Instead, she moves her return position a few centimeters deeper or steps in slightly earlier, small shifts that disturb timing. I watch, I note, I keep. Without serve percentages, return points won or Navarro's unforced error counts in the match report, I cannot claim Navarro made more errors or Pegula returned better. What remained on court was Navarro playing cleanly in the first set, then slowly losing sharpness through extended games.
Schedule pressure also matters. The quarterfinal started late and ended after midnight. Pegula had already played two three-set matches at this tournament and had only one day off before facing Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and two-time defending US Open champion. Sabalenka beat Pegula in the 2026 US Open final. Against a server who can shorten rallies, the physical cost of a late three-set night may be heavier than any tactical adjustment.
At 32, Pegula has also crossed a quiet milestone. She is the oldest woman in the Open era to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals in a single season for the first time in her career. Most players find their most stable level in their twenties. Pegula is doing it at an age when recovery from three-set matches is slower. That explains why her team does not burn energy early in the season, and why her first sets often look loose. She is not underprepared; she is saving energy for the back end of a long match.
American tennis fans love players who explode from the first set. When Pegula loses an opening set, some in the stands assume she is slow to start. But a 32-year-old with 19 three-set wins forces a different reading. Her slow start may be the time she needs to measure an opponent's ball speed, spin and movement patterns. Navarro played her own rhythm in the first set because she was not yet disrupted. Once Pegula found the gaps, the momentum shifted faster than Navarro could adjust. The ball rolls by; the players remain.
The semifinal on September 10 will not be a story about fast or slow starts. Sabalenka's serve can shorten the long rallies Pegula needs to turn the match. But if this season has taught anything, it is that Pegula does not need a perfect match to win; she only needs a long enough one. Before the toss, listen to her footsteps after each Sabalenka serve. The answer will be there.