The Australian Open showdown between No. 6 Jessica Pegula and No. 4 Amanda Anisimova ended in a fairly one-sided match.
Pegula defeated her compatriot 6-2, 7-6 to advance to her first singles Australian Open semi-final and third Grand Slam semi-final of her career. She is currently the only American woman remaining in the women’s singles draw and will face No. 5 Elena Rybakina on Thursday for a spot in the final.
In a matchup between two talented Americans, Pegula had steady hands from start to finish. Especially at the beginning and end. Anisimova’s body language wasn’t great as Pegula took the lead, but the 24-year-old slammed her racket and screamed at the coaching staff at the end of a decisive tiebreak that Pegula won 7-1.
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Overall, Anisimova committed 44 unforced errors and seven double faults on top of Pegula’s 21, and she wasn’t shooting aggressively enough to make up for the difference.
The second set was at least more competitive, with both players exchanging two breaks, but Anisimova quickly fell apart as the tiebreak wore on.
The victory marks a long-awaited breakthrough for the 31-year-old Pegula, who lost before the fourth round at the 2024 and 2025 Melbourne Games. But Rybakina hasn’t dropped a set this tournament and just hours before her match against Pegula, she dominated world No. 2 Iga Swiatek, so she has a tough road ahead of her.
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And it seems likely that the winner of this match will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final. It was Sabalenka who defeated Pegula in the only Grand Slam final of Pegula’s career at the 2024 US Open.
