The match lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes on Sunday. Pegula is also coming off a win against Camila Giorgi.
“I think I started playing a little bit smarter, getting a lot of depth on my shots, everything got a little bit better,” Pegula said.
“She came out playing really well and I was pretty frustrated. She’s a great player. … I knew that she’s been playing great. [At the net] I just told her, ‘Congrats,’ and I think it was just a respectable battle today.”
In addition to winning the match with Potapova despite being a set down at the start, she was also 3-1 down in the deciding set. Then she managed to save a break point at 4-4 going into the second set but she managed to win the last seven points and pushed the match to a decider.
She will next go up against Kvitova who is a two-time Grand Slam winner.
The two have gone up against each other four times with Kvitova winning three of their last meetings.
Earlier, Pegula thanked Denis Shapovalov for his words regarding the equality of men’s and women’s tennis.
“We need men to fight with us in this fight against inequality between men and women.”
“Shapovalov’s empathy was really appreciated by everyone, as well as what he said. We want to make the most of it.” Jessica said.