Stat Of The Day: Americans defeat both world No. 1s in same week for first time since 2008

Jessica Pegula has beaten Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of Montreal, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4, to not only record her second career win over a reigning No. 1—she also beat Swiatek at United Cup earlier this year—but to move through to the final in Canada for the first time.

“Oh gosh, it feels great,” Pegula said in her on-court interview.

“There’s no better way to earn it. That was a tough match, a great match like always. I felt like I was in control, but as the No. 1 in the world does, and a champion, she played some really great tennis at the end of the second set and in the third. She made me earn it.”

In Toronto on Friday night, another American—Tommy Paul—took out the men's No. 1, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals there, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, for his first career win over a reigning No. 1.

And with that, Paul and Pegula have done something very rare.

This is the first time Americans have taken out both reigning No. 1s—ATP and WTA—in the same week in more than 15 years.

The last time this happened was at Miami in 2008. On Tuesday, April 1st, Serena Williams took out then-No. 1 Justine Henin in the quarterfinals of the women's event, 6-2, 6-0, and then on Thursday, April 3rd, Andy Roddick defeated then-No. 1 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the men's event, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3.

Pegula looked headed for a straight-set victory against Swiatek on Saturday afternoon as she originally served for the match at 6-2, 5-4 and, after Swiatek broke back, built a 4-2 lead in the tie-break.

But Swiatek kept fighting, and after a brief interruption from one of the objectively greatest songs of all time, the world No. 1 didn’t lose another point until she had the second set in her pocket.

Swiatek even kept that momentum going, building a 4-2 lead in the third set, but Pegula struck back one last time with four games in a row to close out the upset after two hours and 30 minutes on court.

The American finished the match with 10 more winners than unforced errors, 31 to 21, while Swiatek was slightly in the negatives on the day, finishing the match with 31 winners to 35 unforced errors.

Pegula is now a win away from the equal-biggest title of her career. She already has one WTA 1000 title under her belt, winning in Guadalajara, Mexico at the end of last year (beating Maria Sakkari in the final). She’s 1-1 in her career in WTA 1000 finals, having finished runner-up in Madrid on clay last year (to Ons Jabeur).