Three surfaces, three meetings, and Jessica Pegula still hasn't lost to Iva Jovic. That kind of dominance over a rising teenager says plenty about where the American's game stands heading into the second week at the All England Club.

Pegula came through 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the fourth round on Sunday, dropping the opener before turning things around. She opened up about her mindset once she fell behind early.

In her press conference after the match, Pegula said, "I was still returning well. I just told myself to pick up the first-serve percentage, get some more first-serve free points, quick points. Change up the pace on that."

It was evident straight away through the numbers. The percentage of Pegula's successful first serves increased drastically from 6-of-17 in the first set to over 80 percent in the second. She also limited Jovic's break-point opportunities, converting only one of four in the second set.

Pegula’s match reading was in line with what happened in the third set. After falling behind at 0-40, Pegula won 3-0 and ultimately triumphed at 6-1 in a set after scoring eight breaks in the game, double the number of previous encounters.

Pegula reaches her maiden quarterfinal at Wimbledon since 2023, as she faces another battle of titans with Americans when she plays against the 7th seed Coco Gauff, who has won in three sets over the 11th seed Belinda Bencic

Pegula’s path to the semifinals goes through another American player whose story is yet to be told at Centre Court.

Coco Gauff Battles Past Belinda Bencic to Set Up All-American Quarterfinal

The American teen, Coco Gauff, secured her place next to Pegula after she had to come back from behind against Belinda Bencic. The Swiss No. 11 seed won the first set while Gauff managed to turn things around to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The win marks new territory for Gauff at the All England Club. Despite already lifting trophies at Roland Garros and the US Open, and reaching the semifinals at every other Major, this is her first appearance in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Her grass-court résumé now stands at 15-6 in singles at the tournament, part of an overall 84-25 record across Grand Slam matches in her career so far.

When put head-to-head, it appears that Pegula has the advantage in the series, having a record of 5-3 against Gauff; however, Gauff is riding high in terms of momentum after defeating Pegula in the final last year in the WTA.

Two Americans for one final-four slot. Comment below your prediction.

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Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Utsav Gupta