American tennis star Jessica Pegula SHOCKS world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in United Cup semifinals

Jessica Pegula has defeated world number 1 Iga Swiatek to give the USA a surprising and significant early lead over Poland in the opening United Cup semi-final in Sydney.

Pegula reversed a four-match losing streak to Swiatek with a resounding 6-2, 6-2 win over the reigning French and US Open champion and heavy Australian Open favorite.

Barely trailing behind after rising to No. 3 in the rankings after a stellar 2022 campaign, Pegula never blinked under a closed roof at Ken Rosewall Arena.

Pegula broke Swiatek five times and dropped her own serve just once to earn her first win over the three-time Grand Slam champion since 2019.

American tennis player Jessica Pegula won her singles semifinal match at the United Cup

She defeated world number 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland in straight sets, only dropping serve once.

“I’ve played it in a lot of different places, but I definitely feel like these were the fastest conditions,” Pegula said.

‘Also Poland had a difficult change yesterday (flying in from Brisbane) and we’ve been lucky to have been playing here, and maybe have a bit of an advantage being used to the pitches.

“So I wanted to take that and use it as much as I could and I did a very good job playing very aggressive, serving smartly and returning very well.”

Unbeaten in three singles and two mixed doubles matches in the inaugural United Cup, Pegula’s latest win gives the US a 1-0 lead in best-of-five playoffs.

US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe is a heavy favorite to beat low-ranked Kacper Zuk in Friday’s men’s singles to push home Team USA’s lead ahead of the three games remaining on Saturday.

Greece and Italy will play the first two singles matches of the second semi-final in Sydney later on Friday night.

Maria Sakkari takes on Martina Trevisan before Michail Pervolarakis takes on Lorenzo Musetti.

Up next for Team USA is a match between Frances Tiafoe (above) and Pole Kacper Zuk