Jessica Pegula Eyes ‘Revenge’ as Potential Aryna Sabalenka Threat Looms at the US Open

Jessica Pegula is storming into the US Open with fire. After early exits at Wimbledon, Washington, Montreal, and Cincinnati, the American refuses to take the year’s last Slam lightly. She hasn’t dropped a set and is back in the semifinals for the second time. Now the challenge heats up. Her next opponent could be top seed Aryna Sabalenka or Marketa Vondrousova. Pegula has split two meetings with Vondrousova. The World No.1, though, is the real test. She beat Jessica in last year’s final and again this year in Miami. Is she ready for the challenge?

On Tuesday, Pegula secured her semifinal place with a crisp win over Barbora Krejcikova, 6-3, 6-3. Asked about her next challenge, she stayed grounded but determined.

“I think it’s going to be tough either way, but I’m just happy that I’ve been able to kind of work my way even to this point, considering where I was a few weeks ago,” Jessica Pegula said in her press conference. But of course, the looming presence of Sabalenka is hard to ignore. Pegula knows it. “I think it would be cool to be able to get revenge, obviously. I didn’t even remember the score — I think I saw… was it like five and five last year? I didn’t even remember it being that close, which was kind of funny,” she added.

August 1, 2025, Montreal, Pq, Canada: Jessica Pegula of the United States reacts during her game against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia during third round tennis action at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Friday, August 1, 2025. Canada News – August 1, 2025 PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY – ZUMAc35_ 20250801_zaf_c35_080 Copyright: xChristinnexMuschix

Jessica Pegula’s US Open run hit its peak last year under the bright Arthur Ashe lights. She faced Aryna Sabalenka in the final, who was already riding an incredible season. It was a battle of contrasts: Pegula’s consistency and crafty shot-making against Sabalenka’s raw power and fearless strikes. The Belarusian edged it 7-5, 7-5 in straight sets. Still, for Pegula, it was a milestone: her first Grand Slam final, a stage to flip her story and announce herself under tennis’ brightest spotlight.

And she still remembers every detail, not with awe, but with analysis. “I think after the final, I was so like, ‘Wow, we should be in a third set right now.’ I was very much like, there are so many things… I didn’t serve well, I could have gotten better,” she recalled. “But I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, what a great match, I’m happy to be in the finals.’ I literally walked off the court and told my coach, ‘Well, I didn’t serve that well,’ or, ‘I didn’t do this well,’ or, ‘I didn’t do that well.’ And that’s just the mentality that I have — I tend to look at how I can get better so quickly, which is good.”

This year, Jessica Pegula has taken her game up a notch. She’s captured three titles — Bad Homburg, Charleston, and Austin — and reached finals in Miami and Adelaide. Steady results have kept her firmly at World No.4. That form, that momentum, is now powering her New York charge. Whoever stands across the net, Pegula looks ready.

The post Jessica Pegula Eyes ‘Revenge’ as Potential Aryna Sabalenka Threat Looms at the US Open appeared first on EssentiallySports.