Two-time Miami Open semifinalist Jessica Pegula returned to the quarterfinals at Hard Rock Stadium with a 7-6(1), 6-3 win over fellow American Emma Navarro in Monday night's fourth round.

A semifinalist in each of the tournament's last two editions, Florida resident Pegula needed 1 hour and 29 minutes to dispatch her fellow American -- coming from 4-1 down in the first set -- to score her first Top 20 win of the season in her first-ever meeting against the newly-minted World No.20, who broke that barrier after reaching the quarterfinals at last week's BNP Paribas Open.

Pegula is the first American to reach three consecutive quarterfinals in Miami since Serena Williams (2012-15). For a spot in the final four for a third year running, Pegula will face No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who shocked World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the fourth round, in the quarterfinals.

In Miami, Pegula is leading the way for the USA: Navarro and Pegula were two of five Americans to reach the last 16, the most since 2003 -- and Pegula joins Danielle Collins in reaching the quarterfinals. 

Pegula is 15-3 against fellow Americans dating back to the 2022 Citi Open -- and she's now won her last five matches against compatriots. It was also her 35th career win against a Top 20 player.

Against Navarro, a tiebreak trend continued: To get to a first-set tiebreak against Navarro, Pegula won three straight games after falling behind 4-1 in the first set -- and rebounded with aplomb after failing to serve out the set at 6-5. 

Pegula has now won nine of the last 10 matches in which she's played at least one tiebreak. 

Must See

Pegula remains one of the most consistent WTA 1000 performers: Despite a second-round exit at the BNP Paribas Open earlier this month, Pegula is historically one of the most consistent performers at WTA 1000 events. Through to her 15th career WTA 1000 quarterfinal, Pegula is one of just three Americans to accumulate that many since the format's introduction in 2009 -- joining Serena (30) and Venus Williams (21). 

Since 2020, Pegula (73.3%) is also one of only five players to hold a winning percentage of over 70% at WTA 1000 events with a minimum of 10 matches played, along with Ashleigh Barty (87%), Swiatek (81.9%), Simona Halep (73.5%) and Elena Rybakina (72.5%).