CNN
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Third-seeded Jessica Pegula from the United States advanced to the third round of the US Open on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Romania’s Patricia Maria Țig.
The game started tensely as the pair traded breaks early on before Pegula, the top-ranked American player at this year’s tournament, prevailed with two more breaks from Țig’s serve.
The second set was easier for the 29-year-old as she easily took a 4-0 lead. After an hour and 11 minutes of play, she secured the win when Țig netted a forehand low.
“It was embarrasing [in the first set], we didn’t play against each other. I’m sure we were both nervous,” Pegula said during her on-pitch interview after the game.
“Playing at night, the conditions are different, it’s kind of cool tonight. It’s completely different from when I played here the other day. You just have to get used to it and adapt.”
Pegula has reached the quarterfinals in five of their last seven Grand Slam tournaments but has not progressed past that stage.
To achieve that at this year’s US Open, she faces Elina Svitolina on Saturday. Since returning to tennis earlier this year after giving birth to her child, the Ukrainian has enjoyed a steep rise in the world rankings, even reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.
Pegula won in three sets when the two met at the Citi Open in Washington, DC four weeks ago and has a 3-1 lead in their head-to-head history.
“Elina is so hard. I feel like every single game we play is always a really good fight,” Pegula said of her next opponent.
“I feel like we play each other into the game by pushing each other to play better and we always have really great games.” It’s great to see them playing at such a high level again so quickly see.”
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