NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Jessica Pegula kept alive her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title when the third-seeded American rallied from behind to beat fellow former U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 1-6 6-4 6-3 and make the fourth round at Flushing Meadows on Friday.
Pegula faces Sorana Cirstea in the last 16 and will need to iron out some of the flaws in her game after a sluggish start against Fernandez, but the American showed the resilience and composure that have made her one of the title contenders.
Back at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where her dream run ended against Emma Raducanu in the 2021 title clash, the 23-year-old Fernandez seized the initiative and rarely allowed Pegula to find any rhythm early in the contest.
"It was really tough today. I always feel it's hard to play her. I never feel comfortable when I play her, even when I have won," Pegula said.
"I was going to have to dig deep. I'm glad I was able to find somewhere there in the second set to turn it around. She's a great player, so it was really hard. A lot of it revolves around my serve. My serve percentage was pretty bad."
The Canadian dominated play with her left-handed aggression as she pushed 2024 runner-up Pegula back with deep groundstrokes while mixing up the pace and angles to take the opening set in 30 minutes.
Pegula responded strongly by breaking in the sixth game of the second set and then dug out a crucial hold in the following one before Fernandez mounted a fightback, but the American recovered to force a decider.
"I do think she played a bit differently today to when I've played her in the past," Pegula added.
"I wasn't moving my feet up to the ball, and was a little lazy to start off. Even in the second set, I felt I was hitting a bit of a wall after we played those two games."
The 32-year-old saved breakpoints early in the third set and pounced for a 3-1 lead when Fernandez sent her shot wide, before easing through the following games and sealing victory with a backhand volley winner on match point.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
