Ashleigh Barty dismisses Jessica Pegula to return to Australian Open semifinals

WATCH: Tennis Channel Live discusses Jessica Pegula's Australian Open quarterfinal run.

With her world No. 1 ranking secured for the fortnight, Ashleigh Barty is just two wins away from making history at her home major after taking down Jessica Pegula on Tuesday for a place in the Australian Open semifinals.

Barty barely put a foot wrong across two sets on Rod Laver Arena, reeling off nine games in a row on her way to a rock-solid 6-2, 6-0 victory in 63 minutes. The win keeps Aussie title hopes alive, with the two-time Grand Slam winner on track to become Australia’s first homegrown singles champion since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

The 25-year-old has already scored one major win leading up to the semifinals, with her WTA No. 1 ranking confirmed after Barbora Krejcikova’s loss to Madison Keys—Barty’s next opponent in Melbourne.

“Yeah, that was solid tonight,” said Barty, in her typical understated manner during her on-court interview. “I had a lot of fun out here. I was able to serve and find a lot of forehands in the center of the court, and I was happy to take the game on and be aggressive… I felt like I was able to that throughout the whole match.”

A day after her family’s Buffalo Bills bowed out of the NFL Playoffs in a dramatic loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Pegula also exited the Australian Open although in much more straightforward fashion. The American had toppled No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari in order to move into her second Grand Slam quarterfinal in Melbourne, but couldn’t match up to Barty once the Aussie got going.

Barty set the tone early on, as she broke Pegula right at the start in the opening game after her opponent led by 0-40. Despite momentarily struggling on her own serve—she had problems with her ball toss and faced one break point—Barty held firm to extend her lead to 3-1.

The top seed continued to lean on her strong first serves to set up the points against Pegula, regularly dragging her out wide and punishing her with a forehand putaway down the line. After taking the first set with an ace, one of six in the match, Barty raced through the second set in 28 minutes to clinch the victory.

Barty, who previously reached the Australian Open semifinals in 2020, is looking for her third Grand Slam singles trophy in Melbourne. The 25-year-old already started the season with a double win on home soil after taking the singles and doubles titles in Adelaide, partnering Storm Sanders.

“I’ve grown as a person [since 2020] and I’ve grown as a player. I feel like I’m a more complete tennis player,” Barty reflected. “I’ve got a couple more years of experience under my belt and in handling different situations and being able to problem-solve on court.

“It’s a credit to my team, they’ve done so much work with me behind the scenes to make me the best version of myself.”