NEW YORK — One year ago, Americans Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro both reached the semifinals here.

It isn’t happening at this US Open, because the draw won’t allow it — if they continue to advance, the good friends would collide in the quarterfinals. For now, they are both safely into the third round after eerily similar Wednesday victories.

The No. 4-seeded Pegula was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Anna Blinkova, while earlier No. 10 Navarro was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over fellow American Caty McNally.

“Yeah, really happy,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “I’ve seen her beat a lot of top players. I really didn’t want her to get into a rhythm because she’s dangerous.

“I’m glad I came out fast and strong.”

Pegula has now won five of six matches against the No. 80-ranked Blinkova and will face Victoria Azarenka, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, on Friday.

“I know she hasn’t been playing that much and she’s been hurt and all these things, but at the same time, when she’s on, she’s probably one of the best baseliners we’ve ever had,” Pegula said of Azarenka. “I mean, she can go toe to toe with anybody when she’s playing really well.”

This was the scene of Pegula’s breakthrough in 2024, when she reached her first Grand Slam final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka. Previously, the 31-year-old had played in six major quarterfinals but never advanced further.

Fun (and revealing) fact: Pegula has now won 20 matches this year on American soil, more than any Hologic WTA Tour player.

One of Pegula’s greatest strengths is her consistency. This was her 13th straight victory against an opponent ranked outside the Top 50 at US Open. She’s also one of only two women, along with Iga Swiatek, to reach the third round of the US Open in each of the past five years — and now the first American to do it six years in a row since Madison Keys (2015-20).

Blinkova, 26, had only prevailed in three of her 14 previous matches against Top 5 players, but one of those came last year at Indian Wells — against Pegula.

After saving a break point in her first service game, Pegula came back to break Blinkova — at love, with a backhand winner. It happened two more times in the first set with Pegula closing it with another sweet backhand winner, her 14th of the frame.

Blinkova opened the second set with a service break, but Pegula got it right back. Then she doubled up on Blinkova to take a 3-1 lead. That was when Blinkova broke again, sending the set back on serve. Pegula, taking advantage of a netcord, broke to give herself a 5-3 lead and served it out.

In the end, Pegula’s superior anticipation and movement were the difference-makers.

Pegula broke Blinkova’s serve six times and finished with 30 winners, against 17 unforced errors. Blinkova was credited with seven and 11.

Before the tournament began, Pegula was asked what aspect of tennis gave her the greatest joy.

“When you do hit that stride of when you’re winning and you’re problem-solving and finding ways to win or dig yourself out of matches or winning tournaments,” Pegula said, “the feeling that you get from kind of doing it on your own is kind of unmatched to some other sports. 

“You have to be pretty fearless to go out there and accept that one of you guys are going to fail in front of the world by yourself on a court. When you come out on the other end of those matches, it makes it really rewarding.”

A year after her best Grand Slam result ever, Navarro produced a clinically clean victory over McNally, converting seven of her eight break-point opportunities. It was her seventh straight win in the second round of a major and it required only 76 minutes.

“It was a little bit quicker than I tend to play my matches, but it wasn’t easy,” Navarro said in her on-court interview. There’s been some ups and downs this year, but there’s something special in the air here.”

This year’s path to the final four looks more difficult. Next up for Navarro: two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejcikova, who took out Moyuka Uchijima in straight sets. No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva could await in the fourth round.

Navarro, 24, is now 2-0 against McNally, who was playing on a wild card granted by the USTA. McNally, 23, was trying to equal her best Grand Slam performance; she reached the third round here five years ago. She’s now gone 0-8 against Top 20 players in the PIF WTA Rankings.

The match, played on a beautiful breezy day on the well-attended Grandstand Court, got off to a scratchy start, with three consecutive service breaks. But when a McNally forehand strayed long, at the 22-minute mark, it was 3-1, Navarro. There was another break in the seventh game and Navarro nailed down the first set when she converted her third set point.

Navarro got off to a quick 3-0 start in the second, but McNally broke through in the fourth game. Navarro shrugged it off, winning the last three games of the match, finishing with a forehand winner into the open court.

Azarenka moves on

She’s 36 now and ranked outside the Top 100, but Victoria Azarenka — a two-time Grand Slam champion — still has some championship chops.

Her 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 45-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova created several noteworthy milestones. Azarenka became:

  • The 10thwoman in the Open Era to collect 50 main-draw wins at the US Open — and the first since Serena Williams in 2009.
  • Only the fifth woman of the Open Era to achieve 100-plus wins in Grand Slam hard-court majors.
  • The fifth woman of the Open Era to reach the third round at the US Open at least 15 times, joining the outstanding company of Serena Williams (21), Chris Evert (19), Martina Navratilova (18) and Venus Williams (17).

“She started really strong,” Azarenka said of Pavlyuchenkova’s early 3-0 lead. “I felt like had to find a little bit my feet, make a few more first balls and start dictating.”

Azarenka ultimately won 12 of the last 15 games.

The win over Pavlyuchenkova in Stadium 17 was her eighth in 10 meetings, the most she’s had against any other player. Among active players, only Venus Williams (94) has appeared in more Grand Slam main draws than Azarenka (69).

Azarenka broke Pavlyuchenkova five times and finished with four more winners than unforced errors, 15-11.