Top seed Pegula to face Svitolina in Washington D.C. quarterfinals

World No.4 Jessica Pegula

View Profile advanced to her eighth quarterfinal of the season after defeating Peyton Stearns

View Profile 6-3, 6-4 at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. A champion in Washington D.C. in 2019, Pegula's victory sets a marquee matchup against former No.3 Elina Svitolina

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Playing as the top seed in Washington D.C. for the second consecutive year, Pegula is bidding to win her first tournament of the season and third of her career this week. 

"I won my first title here with my coach in our first week together and since then we've just been rising and it's been an awesome journey," Pegula said. "That was a very big turning point for me." 

Washington D.C.: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

Pegula's two career titles have both come on North American hard courts. In addition to winning her first title in Washington four years ago, Pegula captured the biggest trophy of her career last fall at the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara. 

Stearns earned her main-draw slot as a lucky loser taking Sofia Kenin

View Profile 's place in the field. The powerful 21-year-old has surged up the rankings over the past eight months. This time last year, Stearns was just beginning her professional career after leading the University of Texas to their second-straight NCAA team championship and becoming the first player in program history to capture the NCAA Singles title.

In just her ninth career main-draw appearance on the Hologic WTA Tour, Stearns came into the tournament ranked No.59. She defeated Poland's Magdalena French in the first round. 

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In her first meeting against Pegula, Stearns struggled to break through the top-ranked American's baseline consistency. Playing her first tournament since posting her best result at Wimbledon last month, Pegula showed little sign of rust as she steadily outworked Stearns for the 1-hour and 23-minute match. 

Pegula broke Stearns' serve six times and hit 12 winners to 19 unforced errors. Stearns hit 9 winners to 29 unforced errors. 

As she looks to make her fifth semifinal of the season and first since Charleston, Pegula brings a 2-1 head-to-head advantage into her quarterfinal against Svitolina. The Ukrainian is in the midst of an incredible resurgence, having made the Roland Garros quarterfinals and defeating No.1 Iga Swiatek

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Svitolina comes into the match off two confident wins over former No.1 Victoria Azarenka

View Profile and No.11 Daria Kasatkina

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"She's an amazing competitor, obviously an amazing player," Pegula said. "What she's done after coming back after giving birth and everything that her country is going through, it's been really amazing.

"I feel like she's coming back with a new perspective, a new outlook, and that's showing on court. She's competing really, really hard and hasn't really seemed to skip a beat. It's going to be really tough."