Pegula has won more matches than anyone on tour this season, and the win over Cirstea was her 49th in 2026. It was also her third straight US Open quarterfinal and 11th career Grand Slam appearance in the tournament where she reached the final.
He didn’t care for the idea that the score against Cirstea told the story. “I have a lot of respect for him. He is such a great competitor. How professional does it look to me? I’ve known him for quite some time. In fact, we hadn’t played in a long time until the last few weeks. Those were two really tough matches. I know it seemed somewhat simple, whatever. But it was definitely a struggle.
Cirstea is coming off the best season of his career
The defeat was the last “Grand Slam” match in Kirstei’s career. She is seeded 36th, seeded 17th and reached the last 16 with wins over Austria’s Julia Grabher 6-3 6-0, France’s Diane Parry 6-2 7-5 and Italian 19th seed Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-3. His season isn’t over, but he’s done in the majors.
Navarro, seeded 27th, is making his first Grand Slam quarter-final since the 2025 Australian Open and his second at the US Open, where he reached the semi-finals two years ago. The tournament is built on beating the better ranked players rather than avoiding them; Over French rival Lois Boisson 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 6-3 and American Katie McNally 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, she knocked out Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 7-6, 6-5, 7-7.
Kalinskaya did comparable damage in her section, seeded 23rd and beating fellow Russian Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-3, China’s Xinyu Wang 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and Ukrainian No. 9 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Those two third-round results, Muchova and Svitolina falling on the same day, are what opened up the quarter that Pegula and Navarro now have.
Pegula won all four matches
The matchup belongs entirely to Pegula, who is 4-0 and beat Navarro last month in Cincinnati. Between them, they hold the deepest US Open records of two Americans still standing in this section, a former finalist against a former semifinalist, and one of them will be in the semifinals.
In the fourth round of the 2026 US Open, Jessica Pegula (No. 3) defeated Sorana Kirstea (No. 16) 6-3, 6-4 and Emma Navarro (No. 26) defeated Anna Kalinskaya (No. 21) 6-4, 6-2 to set up an All-American quarterfinal. It was Pegula’s 49th win of the season, the most on tour, third straight quarterfinal in New York and 11th at a Grand Slam. Navarro reaches her first major quarter-final since the 2025 Australian Open, losing to Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova. Pegula leads the head-to-head 4-0. 36-year-old Kirstea played the last Grand Slam match of her career.
US Open 2026 Women’s Singles Complete Fourth Round Schedule
A. Three (1) d. Townsend: 6-3, 6-4
L. Noskova (6) d. M. Kostyuk (11): 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
J. Pegula (3) d. S. Cirstea (16): 6-3, 6-4
E. Navarro (26) d. A. Kalinskaya (21): 6-4, 6-2
M. Andreeva (5) vs A. Potapova (24) – Monday, Armstrong Stadium, 11:00
I. Jovic (14) vs C. Gauff (4) – Monday, Ashe Stadium, 19:00 session
I. Swiatek (8) vs. Q. Zheng (Q) – Monday, Ashe Stadium, 11:30
N. Osaka (13) vs E. Rybakina (2) – Monday, Armstrong Stadium, no earlier, 14:30
