No.1 seed Jessica Pegula came from a set down to advance to her fifth semifinal of 2023 at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, defeating wild card Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 8 minutes.

In the pair's first meeting since Indian Wells 2021, Pegula improved her record against the Ukrainian to 3-1 to make the last four of a tournament for the first time since Charleston in April. The American is a former champion in Washington, having lifted her maiden trophy here in 2019 and is into the semifinals for a third time overall.

Svitolina came within a set of her third Top 10 win since returning from maternity leave in April. She had previously defeated Daria Kasatkina at Roland Garros and Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon, and in just three months has soared back up the rankings to No.27.

Highlights: Sakkari d. Fernandez

Pegula will next face No.4 seed Maria Sakkari. Sakkari will be playing her second match of the day, having defeated qualifier Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2 in a second-round tie held over from Thursday due to rain.

Match moments: The opening set saw just one break point between the players, converted by Svitolina in the fifth game after Pegula lapsed into a rare flurry of errors. But the match came alive in a second set that saw both raise their intensity. Having scored four winners each in the opener, Pegula and Svitolina tallied 11 apiece in the second set.

Pegula's forehand was a particularly reliable weapon for the 29-year-old, and it also enabled her to sustain her momentum into the decider. A short angled forehand garnered her an immediate break -- a lead that she ultimately maintained through the end of the contest. Pegula's offensive execution was often more accurate in key moments than Svitolina's. Pegula finished with 27 winners to 25 unforced errors, whereas Svitolina's 23 winners were outweighed by 31 unforced errors, frequently on attempted finishing shots.

However, Pegula had to work hard to hold off Svitolina. The Ukrainian kept threatening to wrest back control, coming up with several fine passing shots as she nipped at Pegula's heels. Pegula had to save five break-back points to hold for 4-2 before Svitolina fended off the first two match points she faced on her own serve. Svitolina even held a break point to level at 5-5, but Pegula escaped thanks to a pair of brilliant backhands down the line before converting her third match point with a service winner.

In Pegula's words: "I think we play very similar -- very solid from both sides -- so I knew it was going to be a tough match," she said in the on-court interview.

"[I have] tons of respect for her. She just had a baby, and everything she's going through with her country. I told her it was like she came back a new person. You can see the competitiveness in her and I've always really respected that.

"She was one of my first big wins when I broke through a couple of years ago, and to beat someone as tough as her gave me a lot of confidence. I always had a lot of respect for how she competes and her attitude on court."