Jessica Pegula drops five straight games to Vondrousova at Wimbledon, fails to advance to first Grand Slam semifinal

Jessica Pegula appeared poised Tuesday to finally advance to her first Grand Slam semifinal, leading 4-1 in the decisive third set against Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon.

It all unraveled from there.

The Buffalo-born Pegula lost the last five games to Vondrousova, clinching an upset defeat that dropped her to 0-6 all-time in Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Pegula, 29, was up 3-1 before play was briefly paused to close the roof due to rain. Pegula, who was the English tennis tournament’s No. 4 seed, took the next game but didn’t win again.

Only Kaia Kanepi, Katerina Maleeva and Carla Suárez Navarro — who each went 0-7 in major quarterfinals — posted worse records in the round without a win.

This year marked the first time Pegula, whose parents own the Buffalo Bills, had advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinal. She lost in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open and the French Open last year, and has been eliminated in the round at three consecutive Australian Opens, including earlier this year.

The 24-year-old Vondrousova won the first set, 6-4, and Pegula took the second, 2-6.

“She got so much better in the second set,” Vondrousova said of Pegula. “She was pushing me today.”

The Czech Vondrousova has now won five matches at Wimbledon after only winning four matches on grass coming into the tournament.

Vondrousova’s win wasn’t the only upset of the day. Elina Svitolina defeated the No. 1 seed, Iga Swiatek, in three sets to advance.

The Ukrainian Svitolina, who previously made the Wimbledon semifinal in 2019, returned to competing in April after giving birth last fall.

“First of all, I’m going to have a beer, probably,” Svitolina said after her win. “Just going to enjoy with my team. At the beginning of the tournament, if someone would tell me that I will be in the semifinal and beating world No. 1, I would just say that they’re crazy.”

Svitolina, who was once women’s tennis’ third-ranked singles player, has never won a Grand Slam title. She will face Vondrousova in the semifinals.

The women’s singles quarterfinals continue Wednesday with the American Madison Keys playing Aryna Sabalenka, and with Ons Jabeur facing Elena Rybakina.