{
  "id": 6082809,
  "title": "Pegula tops Cirstea to reach US Open quarter-finals",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/pegula-tops-cirstea-to-reach-us-open-quarter-finals-6082809",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-07T01:22:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/sports/2026/09/07/pegula-tops-cirstea-to-reach-us-open-quarter-finals"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former US Open finalist Jessica Pegula triumphed over Sorana Cirstea of Romania in straight sets at the US Open Tennis Championships, advancing to the quarter-finals. Pegula, a third-seeded player and a potential contender for the world number one ranking, defeated Cirstea 6-3, 6-4 in 84 minutes. Both sets saw Pegula taking commanding leads before the Romanian fought back to narrow the gap, but never quite caught up. In the first set, Pegula broke Cirstea's serve and secured it in 38 minutes. In the second set, Cirstea managed to recover two breaks, but Pegula broke her one more time to clinch the victory. Pegula will face either Emma Navarro, seeded 26th, or Anna Kalinskaya, 21st-seeded, next. The American will need to win all three matches to have a chance at claiming the world number one ranking. Elena Rybakina is certain to move up to second place if she reaches the quarter-finals, even if Sabalenka wins her third consecutive US Open title.",
  "summary": "Third-seeded Jessica Pegula needed 84 minutes to complete her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sorana Cirstea.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Associated Press",
        "title": "Two-time defending champ Aryna Sabalenka beats Taylor Townsend to reach the US Open quarterfinals",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/two-time-defending-champ-aryna-sabalenka-beats-taylor-townsend-to",
        "published": "2026-09-06T19:23:02.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Noskova battles past Kostyuk to reach US Open quarters",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/noskova-battles-past-kostyuk-to-reach-us-open-quarters",
        "published": "2026-09-06T19:45:57.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Defending champion Alcaraz powers into US Open quarter-finals",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/defending-champion-alcaraz-powers-into-us-open-quarter-finals",
        "published": "2026-09-06T20:50:08.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "BBC Sport",
        "title": "Alcaraz delivers statement win to reach US Open last eight",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/alcaraz-delivers-statement-win-to-reach-us-open-last-eight",
        "published": "2026-09-06T21:08:46.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Defending champion Alcaraz powers into US Open quarter-finals",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/defending-champion-alcaraz-powers-into-us-open-quarter-finals-6051065",
        "published": "2026-09-06T21:36:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}