Thomas Müller: The End of an Era for Germany’s Iconic #13

NEW YORK (AP) — The questions wouldn’t stop for Jessica Pegula: Why was she 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals heading into her U.S. Open matchup against No. 1 Iga Swiatek? What could Pegula do about it?

Came up during her on-court interview after winning in the previous round. And again at the news conference that followed. And again during a brief TV interview right before striding onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.

If that all weighed on Pegula, the 30-year-old American hid it well, pulling off a big upset by easily beating Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows and earning a debut trip to the semifinals at a major.

“There have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing,” said Pegula, who has won 14 of her past 15 matches, all on hard courts. “I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ’I don’t know what else to do. I just need to get there again and, like, win the match.’ So thank God I was able to do it. And finally — finally! — I can say, ‘Semifinalist.’”

She will face unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Thursday for a berth in the final.

Muchova, the runner-up to Swiatek at the 2023 French Open, made it to the final four in New York for the second consecutive year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier Wednesday.

“I know she has a lot of experience going deep in Slams,” the No. 6-seeded Pegula said about Muchova, whom she defeated at the Cincinnati Open last month. “I’ll worry about that, maybe, when I wake up in the morning.”

The other women’s match Thursday also will feature an American making her major semifinal debut, No. 13 Emma Navarro, against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who has won the past two Australian Open titles. Sabalenka lost to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final in New York; Navarro ended Gauff’s title defense in the fourth round.

There are two Americans in the men’s semifinals, too, but they’ll face each other: No. 12 Taylor Fritz takes on No. 20 Frances Tiafoe on Friday. The other men’s matchup that day will be No. 25 Jack Draper against No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, the last remaining past U.S. Open winner in the field.

The lopsided nature of Pegula’s win was surprising, but she did not think this day would never arrive.

“I knew I could do it. I just had to go out and execute my game and not get frustrated,” she said. “Luckily I felt like I was able to take advantage of some things she wasn’t doing well very early and then was able to kind of ride that momentum throughout the match.”

Swiatek served poorly in the first set and her forehand was a real problem, with 22 of her 41 unforced errors coming on that side. Pegula made only 22 unforced errors in all and used terrific defense to keep forcing Swiatek to hit an extra shot.

Pegula repeatedly did what seemed nearly impossible lately against Swiatek, who counts the 2022 U.S. Open among her five Grand Slam titles and has led the WTA rankings for most of the past 2 1/2 years: break her serve.

Entering Wednesday, Swiatek had lost just a pair of service games across four matches in the tournament, both in the first round — and she didn’t even face a single break point in any of her most recent three contests. That’s all part of why the 23-year-old from Poland was listed as a -350 money-line favorite against Pegula, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

But Pegula, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, didn’t have much trouble in that department, especially at the outset, breaking in each of Swiatek’s initial two service games, which both ended with double-faults, and three of the first six.

It helped that Swiatek was unable to properly calibrate her first serves early, putting just 2 of 12 — 16.7% — in play at the start, only 36% for the opening set.

Even as the games kept going in her favor, Pegula didn’t show much perceptible emotion, whether grabbing a 4-0 lead just 21 minutes in or taking up that set, which was greeted with a slight shake of her left fist as she walked to her sideline seat.

Swiatek didn’t hide her thoughts that well. She smacked her racket against the top of the net. She slapped her right thigh after a forehand flew wide to get broken yet again and trail 4-3 in the second set.

Fifteen minutes later, it was over.

After losing to Gauff in the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023, Muchova needed surgery on her right wrist in October and was off the tour for about 10 months, returning this June. That was the latest in a series of injuries for Muchova, who called it “one of the worst ones that I had.”

“Now, looking back,” she said, “I’m, like, ‘Oh, it actually flew by, the time, and I feel strong again.’”

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AP tennis:

NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Navarro’s first Grand Slam semifinal of her career will come at the U.S. Open against Aryna Sabalenka, someone trying to win her second major trophy of the year and third overall.

Navarro, an American who is seeded 13th, used a stunning turnaround to grab the last six games of her quarterfinal against Paula Badosa for a 6-2, 7-5 victory at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, following up her upset of defending champion Coco Gauff.

“Sometimes you’re out in the court, and you can kind of picture yourself playing a third set. When I was out there, I didn’t picture myself playing a third set,” despite being down 5-1 in the second, Navarro said. “I felt like … I could come back and do it in two.”

Sure did.

There was no such drama in No. 2 Sabalenka’s 6-1, 6-2 win against No. 7 Zheng Qinwen, the gold medalist at the Paris Olympics last month. This was a rematch of the Australian Open final in January, when Sabalenka defeated Zheng for a second consecutive title at Melbourne Park.

With Roger Federer in the stands, attending the U.S. Open for the first time since his retirement, Sabalenka displayed a typically powerful performance to get into the semifinals in New York for the fourth year in a row. In 2023, she was the runner-up to Gauff.

Asked how she’s going to get some of the thousands of fans to support her against the American Navarro, Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, joked: “Drinks on me!”

She is trying to become the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win the hard-court major titles at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

The opponents in the other women’s semifinal will be decided on Wednesday, when No. 1 Iga Swiatek plays No. 6 Jessica Pegula, and No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia takes on unseeded Karolina Muchova.

In the men’s quarterfinals Tuesday, No. 12 Taylor Fritz of the U.S. earned his first berth in the final four of a major, beating 2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Fritz had been 0-4 in Grand Slam quarterfinals but finally broke through against Zverev, the No. 4 seed he also defeated in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

“I’ve had a lot of looks at quarterfinals over the last couple of years and today just felt different,” Fritz said. “I really felt like it was my time to take it a step further.”

Frances Tiafoe had an opportunity to give the U.S. a third semifinalist when he faced No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday night. If he wins, the No. 20-seeded Tiafoe would play the 12th-seeded Fritz in Friday’s semis.

“That could be crazy, so I guess we’ll see what happens,” Fritz said, “but either way I’ll be ready to go.”

Navarro was three points from having to go to a third set against Badosa but won the next four points to stay alive, starting a stretch in which she captured 24 of the match’s last 28 points.

“Things weren’t looking great there in the second set, but just tried to be really tough, stick in there, make her hit one more ball,” Navarro said. “I felt like if I could scrap out a few longer points, maybe put some pressure on her, I felt like I could come back and maybe close it out in two sets. Happy with how I was able to do that.”

Navarro had never even won a match in the main draw of her home major before this year.

Badosa described herself as a “disaster” while dealing with the pressure of trying to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.

“I never had the momentum in this match. I played four or five games OK. It was 5-1, but I never felt myself on the court,” Badosa said. “I lost, I don’t know, 20 points almost in a row. It’s very weird for me because I’m quite a consistent player, so I wasn’t expecting that either.”

Navarro also beat Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon before losing to eventual runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the next round, a 6-2, 6-1 rout in less than an hour.

But the 2021 NCAA singles champion for Virginia was ready for this matchup between New York natives, jumping on Badosa to win the first three games, then seizing the opening Badosa gave her late.

Navarro became the sixth player in the last 40 years to reach the U.S. Open semis without a previous main-draw victory in the tournament, a list that includes recent champions Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and Emma Raducanu in 2021.

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AP tennis:

More tributes are pouring in from around the hockey community after the deaths of NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, who were killed last week by a suspected drunken driver while riding their bikes in their home state of New Jersey.

Jaromir Jagr posted a video Tuesday on social media of Gaudreau assisting on his 766th and final goal in the league when they were teammates with the Calgary Flames in 2018.

“It was a beautiful pass above all,” Jagr wrote in Czech. “Unfortunately, life can be sometimes unbelievably cruel. Thank you, Johnny Gaudreau, that you were here and you gave hope to all those guys by your unbelievable performances that they can succeed at the world class level in the NHL as you managed to do. My sincerely condolences to your family. R.I.P. to you and your brother.”

Donations also continued to pile up to support Matthew’s widow, Madeline, who is pregnant with the couple’s first child, due in December. A GoFundMe set up by Madeline’s sister, Holland Korbitz, and verified by the online fundraising company had raised more than $560,000 as of 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

Dozens of current and former players from around the league, or their significant others, are listed among the more than 7,800 donors, including $3,000 from the family of New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin and $2,013 from Matt Duchene of the Dallas Stars, for a total of $567,127 — well beyond the initial $30,000 goal.

Cliff Rucker, owner of the ECHL’s Worcester Railers HC for whom Matthew played two seasons from 2017-19, is listed as the top donor at $10,000.

“Maddy, the entire Railers HC family stands shoulder to shoulder with you during this incomprehensibly difficult time for you and your loved ones,” Rucker commented. “You and Matty will always be part of our Railer family, and I hope you can feel the love and support we are sending your way.”

The Gaudreau brothers were cycling on a road in Oldmans Township on Thursday night when a man driving an SUV in the same direction attempted to pass two other vehicles and struck them from behind about 8 p.m., according to New Jersey State Police. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. On Tuesday, police said nothing more about the case, including Higgin’s blood alcohol level, was being released at this time.

No information about a funeral or memorial services, public or private, was immediately available.

“As we embark on the journey of laying John and Matty to rest, we are greatly comforted by all those who have visited these growing memorials and who have left messages of love, prayers, thoughts of kindness as well as jerseys, skates, sticks, pucks, flowers, candles and so many other tokens of remembrance,” uncle Jim Gaudreau posted on Facebook. “We are consoled by the memorials on each of your doorsteps, in your yards and on your cars. We have heard and seen the countless moments of silence and heartfelt messages by so many professional athletes, organizations and other athletic leagues, by every single person in private, along with the extremely heartfelt messages from broadcasts, media and each and every single one of you along with the random acts of kindness and compassion by complete strangers.”

Fans in Columbus on Friday made a memorial out of hockey sticks, flowers and other mementos outside the Blue Jackets’ downtown arena. Flames fans in Calgary, Alberta, also paid tribute with messages and Gaudreau’s No. 13 written in chalk on the ground outside the Saddledome.

The Blue Jackets said fans are invited to a candlelight vigil on Wednesday night outside Nationwide Arena, which will include brief remarks from members of the organization as well as 13 minutes, 21 seconds of silent remembrance for the jersey numbers worn by Johnny and Matthew.

The Blue Jackets said general manager Don Waddell and players will speak to reporters Wednesday afternoon.

Wayne Gretzky over the weekend said he, wife Janet, and their family were devastated by the senseless tragedy.

“We are sending our love, thoughts and prayers to the Gaudreau family,” Gretzky posted on social media. “We lost two great young men who were loved and a huge presence both on and off the ice. Johnny and Matthew, you will always be remembered and missed.”

Their deaths on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding scheduled for Friday in Philadelphia transcended hockey. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Wischusen offered somber words about Johnny and Matthew during ESPN’s college football broadcast of the game Monday night between Florida State and Boston College, the school the Gaudreau brothers attended and played hockey together at for one season a decade ago.

“The entire National Hockey League, as well as the Boston College community and so many others, were devastated Friday when we learned of the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau,” Wischusen said. “Our hearts are shattered, and we send every good thought and prayer to their wives, Johnny Gaudreau’s young children, Matthew’s child on the way and all of their family and friends.”

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Associated Press writers Bruce Shipkowski in New Jersey and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: