The top-ranked American at the U.S. Open is marching on. 

Jessica Pegula advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time in her career after pulling out a 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-0 victory over Chinese qualifier Yue Yuan at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was Pegula’s 22nd major match win since the start of 2021, which is only eight fewer than world No. 1 Iga Swiatek has over that span. 

“I thought I was playing really well the first set,” said Pegula, a 28-year-old Buffalo native and the daughter of Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula. “Then like from two-all I think I just stepped up my level and had my patterns down. I think the tiebreaker I played a little tight because I wanted to close it out, but I also thought she stepped it up.” 

Yuan, who had not lost a set in three qualifying matches and two main draws entering her matchup with the eighth-seeded Pegula, tightened up her game in a competitive second set following a ho-hum performance in the first. After Yuan’s three-game lead disappeared and the second set went to a tiebreaker, the lowest-ranked of the record four Chinese women in the tournament battled back from a 5-2 deficit. 

Saving a match point with a ruthless backhand winner on the line, Yuan ultimately stole the middle set. But Pegula owned the final set, relying on her strong serve and losing just one point behind it in the decider. She only lost 10 points on serve in total. 

“Going into the third I was like, ‘I feel like I’m winning a majority of the games,’ ” said Pegula, who bounced back from a tough doubles loss alongside fellow American Coco Gauff. “She only won two games from 1-4 besides the tiebreak. So I felt good going into the tiebreak. I just wanted to get on her early to kind of ease the nerves. I could tell she was struggling a little bit physically, as well. I just kind of wanted to get on her quick.” 

Yuan let the first set get away from her quickly as her high-powered hitting resulted in just four winners, in comparison to her 11 unforced errors. Continuing her consistent high level of play, Pegula kept it tight with just five unforced errors. 

Pegula now will face No. 21 Petra Kvitova, to whom she lost to in the third round of the 2020 U.S. Open. With a quarterfinal berth on the line, Pegula will have more of an even matchup against Kvitova. The 32-year-old Czech grinded out a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (10) win over fellow two-time major champion Garbine Muguruza of Venezuela at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday. 

“Petra is so hard to play,” Pegula said. “I feel like when she’s on she blows you off the court and then sometimes she can be off. I think notoriously she’s come back from match point, she’s a fighter. When it clicks, it’s really difficult. And being a lefty as well. 

“I think I’m a much better player now than I was when I played her last time. I know how she plays, but you never really know how she’s going to come together. I think she saved a match point today and was down in the third. It’s just going to be a balance of me still going for my shots and putting pressure on her.”