MELBOURNE – Jessica Pegula's first victory over a Top 10 opponent earned the 25-year-old American her first trip to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
The 61st-ranked Pegula, whose parents own Buffalo's NFL and NHL franchises, held on to beat No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Rod Laver Arena on Monday (Sunday night EST).
Pegula is on quite a breakthrough run. She has won four matches at Melbourne Park over the past week — including victories over two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2011 U.S.
Open champion Sam Stosur — after entering the hard-court tournament with a total of three wins at majors for her career. Also significant for Pegula, who works with Venus Williams' former coach,