By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Last year's runner-up Jessica Pegula sprinted through her U.S. Open fourth-round clash with American compatriot Ann Li to win 6-1 6-2 on Sunday, moving with ruthless efficiency to close it out in under an hour.
Pegula had a poor run-up to the tournament, exiting early from Washington, Montreal and Cincinnati, but has yet to drop a set in New York and put up a dozen winners on Arthur Ashe Stadium as she found her power from the baseline.
She next plays either Czech
Barbora Krejcikova or American Taylor Townsend.
"I felt really comfortable moving today," said Pegula. "I felt like today I started off really well and I just wanted to keep executing that."
The fourth seed beat Li in their round-two meeting at Roland Garros this year and used the same playbook this time to get a hot start at Arthur Ashe Stadium, winning the first three games.
Li got on the board when she broke Pegula from the baseline in the fourth game but the world number four wrested the momentum back immediately when she converted on another break point in the fifth.
Li handed Pegula the set with a backhand error in the seventh and sent another shot past the baseline on break point to give her opponent a head start in the fourth game of the second set.
Pegula shouted in celebration after clinching victory with a terrific backhand winner down the line, reaching her first major quarter-final this year.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)
