ATP Tour

Pegula on Tiafoe-Michelsen moment: ‘It was so heartbreaking, my heart hurt so much’

Following Frances Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen’s five-set battle Tuesday afternoon at the US Open, it was Tiafoe’s embrace of a visibly emotional Michelsen at the net that stayed with WTA World No. 3 Jessica Pegula.

Tiafoe held his nerve to defeat Michelsen after the 22-year-old had an opportunity in the third set to serve for a place in his first major semi-final. Pegula watched the battle unfold before taking the court herself against fellow American Emma Navarro, whom she would go on to defeat in a hard-fought three-set battle. But the image of Tiafoe comforting Michelsen stayed with her.

"Just seeing Alex hug him at the end, I started crying in the locker room," said Pegula of the moment between her American peers. "It was so heartbreaking. My heart hurt so much. It's crazy. I told my coach how you can have two totally different experiences.

"Foe is having the best day of his life, and then Alex is having just the worst moment of his life. That's just tennis. It's so tough, but it was an amazing match."

Michelsen’s experience resonated with Pegula, who faced her own battle against Navarro just hours later, rallying from a set down to seal her semi-final spot. While she understood the pressure of closing out a match, she also admired the composure Tiafoe showed when the moment demanded it most.

"I saw Alex serve for it," Pegula shared. "It's just not easy. It's really hard to serve for it. I had trouble serving for it [against Navarro]. I've definitely gotten broken serving for it in the past.

"I think the way Foe was able to handle that has just shown how much better he's been competing this year," Pegula said. "I think probably a lot of the tough matches he's had to get through this whole summer and this year paid off probably for that moment."