Australian Open: Pegula upsets Svitolina; Barty, Nadal advance

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- American Jessica Pegula -- the daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula -- pulled off a stunning upset of No. 5 Elina Svitolina in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Monday in Melbourne.

The 26-year-old Buffalo, N.Y., resident beat the favored Ukrainian 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a one-hour, 55-minute match to advance to the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam.

"It was tough because she [Svitolina] makes you play so many balls," Pegula told reporters. "Was it the perfect match? No.

"But I thought I served really well. That was really important."

Pegula will meet fellow American Jennifer Brady -- ranked No. 22 -- in the next round. The winner of that match faces No. 1 Ash Barty or No. 25 Karolina Muchova in the semifinals.

Pegula -- ranked No. 61 -- has never appeared in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Barty and Muchova each advanced to the quarterfinals with straight-sets victories. Barty beat American Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4. Muchova beat Elise Mertens 7-6(5), 7-5.

Brady beat Donna Vekic 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Rafael Nadal on Monday was the top player to advance on the men's singles circuit. The No. 2 player in the ATP rankings beat Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 8 Andrey Rublev also advanced with fourth-round victories.

"It's going to be a big challenge," Nadal said in an on-court interview. "I'm happy to be through today and to get an important victory for my confidence."

Nadal battles Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Rublev matches up with Medvedev on Wednesday in Melbourne. No. 1 Novak Djokovic battles No. 7 Alexander Zverev in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday.

No. 21 Grigor Dimitrov battles Aslan Karatsev in the other men's quarterfinal.

No. 11 Serena Williams faces No. 2 Simona Halep in the biggest match of the women's singles circuit on Tuesday. No. 3 Naomi Osaka faces Hsieh Su-wid on Tuesday in another women's quarterfinal.