NEW YORK — The afternoon crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium broke into an encouraging cheer, realizing Jessica Pegula was on the ropes.
The highest-ranked American had already dropped the first set of Friday’s US Open third-round match against Leylah Fernandez in jarring fashion, and she risked falling behind in the second set, too.
It was break point for Fernandez, and if she won it, she would go up 3-2 on No. 3 seed Pegula.
But with the crowd behind her, Pegula locked in before it was too late.
Pegula won that game, and nine of the next 14, too, to escape with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory, narrowly avoiding what would have been an Open-altering upset.
“It was tough,” Pegula said. “I had to dig deep there in the second to turn that around, and it very well could have not turned around. I’m just happy that I was able to find something there.”
Pegula — the daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula — entered the Open as one of the tournament favorites, with only back-to-back defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Elana Rybakina seeded ahead of her.
But after coasting to low-stress victories in the first two rounds, Pegula had to sweat against the No. 31 seed Fernandez on a sunny afternoon with the roof open at Ashe.
The Canadian-born Fernandez — the surprise runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2021 — took advantage Friday as Pegula struggled with her serve, winning the first three games and breaking Pegula twice in the opening set.
“I knew my strategy. I think she played a bit different than I’ve played her in the past, especially this year in Miami,” said Pegula, who improved to 4-1 against Fernandez.
“She played a little bit further back. I think she was mixing up the spins and maybe not playing what I expected. So I just kind of had to tell myself that: She is playing a little bit different, but you still know what you have to execute.”
The second set started as a similar grind for Pegula, who repeatedly drilled returns into the net as she and the left-handed Fernandez split the first four games.
But Fernandez, 23, missed opportunities to put Pegula away.
Despite getting to break points in the fifth and seventh games of that second set, Pegula managed to rally back and win both. The hard-fought seventh game lasted more than 10 minutes as Pegula and Fernandez traded point after point.
Pegula surged from there, finally ousting Fernandez after two hours and 11 minutes. Fernandez finished 3 for 11 (27%) on break points.
But it certainly didn’t come easily for Pegula, who landed only 54% of her first serves and committed 29 unforced errors.
“I think now that my serve has gotten better, I still show up to matches and I’m serving like it’s not quite a weapon and sometimes maybe not trusting it,” Pegula said. “That’s something that I’m still working on. I think everyone is always working on that.”
The Buffalo-born Pegula has won 11 singles titles, including two this year, but she still seeks her first major championship. She was the runner-up at the Open in 2024 before getting eliminated in the semifinals last year.
The dream remains alive after Friday afternoon’s scare, with Pegula set to face No. 16 Sorana Cirstea of Romania on Sunday in the Round of 16.
In the weeds
Top-seeded Sabalenka rolled to a third-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan, but not without a little airy adversity.
During the third game of the first set, Sabalenka informed the chair umpire that the smell of marijuana coming from the Louis Armstrong Stadium stands was distracting her.
“Someone is smoking weed,” Sabalenka told the official. “Do you mind? Because it’s so strong.”
The Belarusian-born Sabalenka expounded on the unusual delay after her 6-3, 6-4 win over Rakhimova, the 92-ranked player on the WTA Tour.
“Guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, do not do it around the tennis courts,” Sabalenka said with a laugh. “It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”
Carlos cruises
Carlos Alcaraz continues to put any rust concerns to rest.
The Spanish sensation cruised to a third-round win over Yibing Wu of China, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, on Friday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium — a victory he punctuated with his new bow-and-arrow celebration.
Alcaraz has dropped only one set through three rounds at the Open, which marks his first tournament in more than four months after a right wrist injury sidelined him.
While his first-serve speed remains below his pre-injury standard, it has ticked up with each match of the Open, from about 113 mph to 115 mph to, on Friday, 117 mph.
“To be honest, I’m better than I thought,” Alcaraz, 23, said afterward. “Physically, I thought I was going to be bad after the first match, but I’m recovering very well.”
Alcaraz — the defending Open champion and this year’s No. 2 seed — will next face the United States’ Tommy Paul in the Round of 16 on Sunday.
No. 20 Paul advanced Friday by defeating Alexander Bublik in five sets at Louis Armstrong Stadium.