Pegula credits escape room trip for US Open run

Pegula won six of nine break points and hit 12 winners

US Open 2025

Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 24 August-7 September

Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website & app

American Jessica Pegula says completing an escape room with friends helped her rediscover form and embark on a run to the US Open quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Pegula needed just 54 minutes to beat a nervous Ann Li 6-1 6-2 on Sunday and keep alive her hopes of winning a career-first Grand Slam.

In the last eight she will face 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who saved eight match points on her way to beating home hopeful Taylor Townsend 1-6 7-6 (15-13) 6-3 in a thrilling match.

Pegula, 31, has endured a difficult summer, with a humbling first-round exit at Wimbledon followed by early exits at WTA events in Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati.

"I felt terrible coming into this tournament, honestly," Pegula said after beating compatriot Li.

After quitting midway through a practice session with world number one Aryna Sabalenka days before the US Open, Pegula's mood improved after a night out with friends.

"[We] went and did an escape room with my friends and had, like, two drinks and [realised] I need to just chill and stop getting so frustrated and overthinking all these practices," she said.

Pegula, who enjoyed a superb run to the final at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago, looked much closer to her best on Sunday as she broke the serve of Li six times on her way to victory.

"I know when she's serving well and has confidence she's really dangerous," Pegula said of Li, who she beat in a much tighter match at the French Open back in May.

"I felt like she came out a little slow and nervous and I wanted to jump on that and not let her feel comfortable for a second, that was my motivation all match."

Li represented a potentially tricky opponent despite her world ranking of 58, ranking second for aces with 22 from her first three matches.

The 25-year-old appeared confident as she chose to serve first after winning the coin toss, only for Pegula to break immediately.

Li improved after making 10 unforced errors and winning just 8% of her second serves during the first set, but Pegula seemed to raise her own game in response.

Pegula was strong on the baseline as usual, but she made a conscious effort to move to the net as well. By contrast, Li tended to stay deep in a fruitless effort to keep up with Pegula's powerful strokes.

"I felt really comfortable moving in today and coming in at the right times. It doesn't always feel that good, but it started well and I wanted to keep executing that until the last game," said Pegula.

"It's a part of my game I can really use as a weapon. Sometimes I get stuck at the back because I'm so good there, but we've worked on that a lot and my coaches are happy when I'm finishing overheads and volleys at the net."

In the quarter-finals Pegula will face world number 62 Krejcikova, who is a player not to be underestimated.

Krejcikova 'didn't know if I'd ever be back'

Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon in 2024

Krejcikova staged a stunning comeback from a set down against Townsend before explaining there had been doubts in her mind earlier this season about whether she would ever play tennis again, as she struggled with a back injury.

"What a match. Just four months ago I was off the court and I couldn't play, I had pain in my back and I didn't know if I'd ever be back, and here I am," she said after qualifying for her first US Open quarter-final since 2021.

Townsend - the world doubles number one but 139th in the singles rankings - beat Jelena Ostapenko and fifth seed Mirra Andreeva to reach the last 16, and after she won six straight games to take the first set, few would have predicted that Krejcikova would turn the match around.

A second set riddled with mistakes saw two breaks for each player before a marathon tie-break eventually swung Krejcikova's way.

The Czech showed remarkable mental fortitude to save eight match points before finally capitalising on her fourth set point.

That fightback seemed to give Krejcikova a mental advantage in the deciding set as Townsend began to look subdued, but the American came storming back from a break behind to whip the partisan crowd on Louis Armstrong Stadium into a frenzy.

The 29-year-old's joy was short-lived though, as Krejcikova broke once more before serving out to win in three hours and four minutes.

Townsend said afterwards: "It just stings because I literally gave everything. She came up with some really, really great tennis in moments where she was down, and I thought I had it.

"I'm exactly where I need to be. I'm playing the tennis I need to play to be inside the top 20, top 10, to win a Grand Slam."