Jessica Pegula Lifts the Lid on Panic That Hits Top 5 Including Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka

What does it take to be a top tennis player? Perhaps a player who had to wait almost 13 years to sneak into the Top 3 and 15 years to reach her first major final could give this answer in a better way. Jessica Pegula’s upward trajectory started from the 2021 AO, where she reached the QFs, defeating some of the big names in women’s tennis like Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina. Before that, she had won just 3 out of her 11 matches at the major tournaments. However, after that breakthrough campaign, she made up her mind, saying, “I was like, ‘I don’t want to be that player that makes quarter-finals, has a breakout and then loses in qualifying. It’s really hard when you have to back up results week to week.” Although she ended the 2021 season as the number 18, Pegula understood what it really takes to be a top player. After reaching the number 3 spot a year later, she admitted, “Honestly, since then, I’ve been a top player. I did not think it was going to happen.” In the last few years, Pegula has been one of the consistent players, along with some of her peers. What does it really take to get there?

Consistency! After having success in the 2021 season, she thought she’d have a “sophomore slump“, and not put up results. But finding consistency has brought her success over the last few years. Although she went down to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open final by straight sets (5-7,5-7), Jessica Pegula believes, “Even though [I haven’t won] a Slam yet, I’m happy that I’m able to come in week after week and put up good results. I’m very proud of that.” She has now become a constant among the Top 5 in women’s tennis!

How does it feel to maintain this consistency so successfully? Well, in a recent interview with USA Today, she said, “It’s really tough, I mean to be Top 5, you’ve to be winning tournaments, you’ve to be posting big results in the 1000s or the Grand Slams and that’s not easy to do, especially with all the depth that we have in women’s tennis. So, I mean, a lot goes into it.” She further added, “I think the main thing that I always feel like I come back to is just you know if you’re not having great results or not having maybe the results you wanted, I think kind of fall into kind of trap like, ‘Oh, I’m not playing well. My confidence is down, everything getting kind of negative.’ I think you kind of just have to use it as, ‘Ok, you know this happened. I’m not paying my best. How do I get better?’“

According to Pegula, sometimes it’s better to shove the results kind of off to the side. “I feel like when you’re a top player if you’re already proven that you can play at that level, that you’re winning those events, that you’re going deep in big tournaments. So, it’s a kind of panic, maybe when you’re not having great results is I feel like what the players in the world do. I mean I think you’ve seen that with Coco (Gauff), with Aryna (Sabalenka), with Iga (Swiatek), with all of them, with Jasmine (Paolini) who just won in Rome.” 

While highlighting these superstars in women’s tennis, she spoke about how it’s not about winning every single week but it’s more about their ability “to kind of just bounce back.” Jessica Pegula thinks this is the “most important for top players,” and “they don’t kind of dwell on any tough results, and tennis is so hard, you’re playing every single week. You’re not going to win every single week. It’s impossible.” Talking about winning, well, Pegula has already won two titles (ATX Open and Charleston Open) this season and has a win-loss record of 28-9.

Her consistency in this season has truly been remarkable, but was it the first time that she spoke about these top WTA stars? Well, during a previous interview, she spoke about the challenges of facing these top players and how these battles help her in her own journey.  “Aryna and Iga are proving week in and week out that they’re at their best consistently. Playing them a lot means I’m going deep in tournaments, and that’s just the challenge you face when you’re trying to be the best,” Jessica Pegula.

Aug 10, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Jessica Pegula (USA) celebrates after winning a point against Peyton Stearns (USA, not shown) during quarter finals at Sobeys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

This year has been a great year for American women’s tennis, with Madison Keys winning the AO, youngsters like McCartney Kessler winning the Hobart International, Amanda Anisimova (Qatar Open), and Emma Navarro (Merida Open) also clinching titles. Overall, the competition to retain the top spots has become more challenging these days. How does she look at the upcoming major challenges on clay?

Jessica Pegula looks forward to getting some wins under her belt on clay before the 2025 French Open

Jessica Pegula doesn’t have a favorable record against either Aryna Sabalenka (2-7) or Iga Swiatek (4-6). But having said that, she has now understood, “If you want to win these big tournaments and big titles, you have to beat those types of players.” Talking about winning big titles, Mark Knowles once told ESPN that Pegula has “big goals.” What are those, though?

“Outside of winning Slams, the second-biggest goal for all of these [elite] players is to make the year-end championship. It’s validation you had a great season, and it’s just the top eight players in the world; it’s really hard to get there. She’s excited about it and looking forward to meeting the challenge against the best of the best.” The coach also said that she always had the belief that she could make a Grand Slam final, but now that’s been validated, and her mindset has shifted to “I’m showing up to win this event” before every tournament she plays. Knowles says all she wants now is to keep improving and keep learning.

Talking about improving, while speaking about playing on clay, she once admitted, “Maybe it’s not naturally the best suited for my game, but I don’t mind clay at all. It has challenged me to adapt and change a few things, but I love that challenge. I feel like I’ve added things to my game I didn’t have before, and I’m excited to see if I can use those tools and execute them this swing.“

If we take a look at their track record on clay this season, after winning the Charleston Open, she reached the QF in Stuttgart. But Jessica Pegula failed miserably in Madrid and Rome, but now, before getting things started in Paris, she wants to test herself in Strasbourg. Can she win her first match at the Internationaux de Strasbourg against Anna Kalinskaya?

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