BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Jessica Pegula began her U.S. Open title quest Tuesday, advancing to the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Camila Giorgi at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Pegula is the top-seeded American in the tournament, ranked No. 3 in the Women’s Tennis Association. Born in Buffalo, the daughter of Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula has reached the quarterfinals in each of her past four Grand Slam tournaments. She is coming off her third career victory in Montreal, which included a win against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, the reigning U.S. Open champion.

“I think we are all hoping that we hit the right form going into a slam, especially if you get through the first week trying to hit that stride in the second week,” Pegula said during her on-court interview. “But you never really know what’s going to happen.

“Tennis is so day-to-day — you can feel great one week and then you can feel terrible the next. So you are just tying to really get through the first few rounds and try and get better each match.”

Pegula will play her second-round match at 9 p.m. Thursday against Patricia Maria Tig from Romania. The women’s final is Sept. 9 in Flushing Meadows, two nights before the Bills open their season playing the Jets in the Meadowlands.

PRIZE MONEY

Total player compensation is rising to a record $65 million, up from about $60 million in 2022. This is the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open becoming the sport’s first event to pay women and men the same, and both singles champions will get $3 million in 2023. That’s below the pre-pandemic pay of $3.9 million for each winner in 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.