NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula beat Elina Svitolina 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday, setting up a fourth-round matchup at the US Open against fellow American Madison Keys.
Pegula, the No. 3 seed, is still trying to advance beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. First, she’ll have to get by the 2017 runner-up in Flushing Meadows, who also needed three sets to move on.
Keys, the No. 17 seed, came back to eliminate No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Pegula then found herself in a tough test with Svitolina, the No. 26 seed from the Ukraine who reached the US Open semifinals in 2019. It was tied 2-2 in the third set before the 29-year-old from Florida broke serve to start a run of four straight games to win the match.
That put her in the fourth round of the US Open for the second time. Pegula had her best result at the tournament in 2022, falling to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka — who has a chance to overtake Iga Swiatek at No. 1 in the rankings depending on their results the rest of the way at the US Open — continued her smooth march through the bracket by defeating Clara Burel of France 6-1, 6-1.
Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion in January, has dropped a total of just 12 games through three matches so far.
Sabalenka next takes on No. 13 Daria Kasatkina, a 2022 French Open semifinalist, who returns to the fourth round in New York for the first time in six years after getting past Greet Minnen of Belgium 6-3, 6-4.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.