No. 6 Jessica Pegula reached her first Grand Slam semi-final with her stunning victory over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the US Open on Wednesday night.

Pegula, who was 0-6 in the quarterfinals of major tournaments, recorded the biggest win of her career with a dominant 6-2, 6-4 victory over five-time major winner Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion. Pegula’s stellar summer continues after she won the Canadian Open and reached the final in Cincinnati.

Pegula, 30, is the second daughter of an American billionaire to advance to the Final Four of her home tournament. No. 13 Emma Navarro, 23, will face No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in one semifinal on Thursday; Pegula will face unseeded Karolína Muchová in the other. The women’s final is on Saturday.

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Terry Pegula, Jessica’s father, made his fortune in oil and gas and has since parlayed it into a sports empire that includes the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. He is worth $7.7 billion, number 373 in the world, according to Forbes.

Ben Navarro, Emma’s father, is the founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group, which owns the Las Vegas-based lending company Credit One. He also owns the tennis tournaments in Cincinnati and Charleston and has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.

Both Pegula and Navarro were born in New York State — Pegula in Buffalo and Navarro in Manhattan. Pegula is taking the 7 train to the Open.

Tennis can be an expensive sport, but there are no shortcuts. You have to practice and put in the effort. Players like Pegula and Navarro do have a financial advantage, namely in paying for coaching, physical therapy, travel, equipment and other expenses. But you can’t fake it with actual technique.

Both players find it ‘irritating’ when people think their tennis success is due to their family’s fortune.

“I did something with the media the other day. They were like, ‘What’s the most annoying thing?'” Pegula, who earned more than $14 million from her career on the court prior to the Open, told Barron’s.

“People think I have a butler, that I get chauffeured around. I have a private limousine, that I fly everywhere privately. That’s not who I am at all.”

She added: “It’s a little bit annoying, but honestly I just find it funny because I don’t really know anyone who lives like that. It’s outrageous.”

As for finally reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal, Pegula sounded very relieved.

“I’ve been (to the quarterfinals) so many times and I kept losing, but to great players, to girls who won the tournament,” she said on court. “I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I thought, ‘I don’t know what else to do. I just have to get back there and win the match,’ so thank God I was able to do it and finally, finally I can say I made it to the semifinals.”

Navarro, the 2021 NCAA singles champion out of the University of Virginia, knocked out defending champion and No. 3 seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round and then defeated No. 26 Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. She thanked her father afterward.

“I want to thank my dad who saw a vision when I was really young,” Navarro told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs. “He knew I might have a little bit of ADHD from being in a classroom or a 9-to-5 job, and I think he saw something in me at a young age, so thank you, Dad, for sending me on this journey.”

But she later added that her wealthy childhood is not the only reason for her success.

“I had access to resources as a kid, but I don’t want that to take away from the fact that I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am,” she said. “I’ve put in a lot of hours and I started working out twice a day and going to the gym when I was 8, 9 years old. It’s been a lot of hard work and dedication.”

With the American duo now in the women’s semifinals, there are four American men and women left in the draw for the first time since 2003. On Friday, No. 12 Taylor Fritz and No. 20 Frances Tiafoe will face off in the first all-American men’s Grand Slam semifinal since 2006. No American man has won a major since Andy Roddick at the 2003 Open. Fitting. Roddick was in a suite watching Pegula win her quarterfinal.

Navarro earned about $2.5 million in his career before the Open.

Both she and Pegula have earned $1 million by reaching the semifinals. The winner of the tournament takes home $3.6 million and the runner-up $1.8 million.

More important than the money for either player is the chance to play for a Grand Slam title, possibly against each other.

“I think deep down I believe (that I can win),” Navarro, who lost in the first round last year, told ESPN’s Nick Kyrgios after beating Gauff in the fourth round.

“Yes, I think I can win it.”

18-time major champion Chrissie Evert van Pegula said: “She’s the best player out there who hasn’t won a Grand Slam yet. Could this be her year?”