Jessica Pegula Beats Emma Navarro, Books Her Spot in the US Open Semifinals

Jessica Pegula is once again playing her best tennis when it matters most. On September 8, 2026, the third-seeded American battled back from a set down to defeat fellow American Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American women’s quarterfinal, punching her ticket to the US Open semifinals.

What Happened on Court

Thanks to a lengthy day session running long, the match didn’t get underway until nearly 90 minutes after its scheduled start time. Once play began, Navarro came out swinging. The No. 26 seed broke Pegula’s serve twice early on and looked every bit the aggressor, taking the opening set and putting Pegula on the back foot.
Pegula, though, has built a reputation this season for finding her rhythm exactly when she needs it. After falling behind in the third set, she reeled off four straight games to seize control of the match and close it out, denying Navarro what would have been her first career win over Pegula in four meetings between the two.

Up Next: A Rematch With Sabalenka

Pegula’s reward for the win is a semifinal date on Thursday against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending US Open champion. The two have plenty of recent history — Sabalenka beat Pegula in the 2024 final and again in last year’s semifinal after dropping the opening set, so this matchup carries some obvious extra weight heading in.

A Record-Setting Season for Pegula

At 32 years old, Pegula has quietly put together one of the most consistent seasons on the WTA tour. This run marks the second time this year she’s reached a Grand Slam semifinal, having also done so at the Australian Open back in January — making her the oldest woman in the Open era to reach multiple major semifinals in the same year.
She’s also been remarkably good in tight matches all season. With 19 three-set wins so far in 2026, Pegula leads the entire women’s tour in that category, a stat that lines up perfectly with how Tuesday’s win against Navarro played out.

Bottom Line

Pegula’s comeback win keeps her deep in Grand Slam contention for the third straight year at Flushing Meadows. Whether she can finally get past Sabalenka on Thursday remains to be seen, but her ability to grind through three-set battles has clearly become one of her biggest strengths this season — and it’s exactly what carried her through against Navarro.

Source: ESPN — “Jessica Pegula beats Emma Navarro to make US Open semifinals”