Madison Keys stunned third seed Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-3 in an all-American clash on Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday, reaching the US Open quarter-final for the first time since 2018.
Keys crashed out of the first round at Cincinnati last month but appeared right at home on the New York hard courts, where she was runner-up in 2017, as she overwhelmed her opponent with 21 winners.
Pegula beat the 17th seed Keys in their only previous meeting last year and was considered as one of the US’s brightest hopes after winning the Montreal title last month.
Keys next plays Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who overcame a rocky start to beat American Peyton Stearns 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2.
In the men’s section, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz wasted little time in blowing past Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-3 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
Through the first week of the season’s final Grand Slam, the world number one has been putting in routine shifts and has dropped only one set en route to the last eight.
It took a few games for Alcaraz to size up his opponent but once the Spaniard did, it was pretty much one way traffic.
Alcaraz took charge with a break for a 4-2 lead in the first set and then broke again at the start of the second to find himself 2-0 up.
The feisty Italian would have his moment in the third set, breaking Alcaraz at 2-1 but the Spaniard would immediately break back and then again to seal victory.
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