Jessica Pegula made her professional debut in 2009, but she had to wait almost fifteen years to get the taste of a Grand Slam final. If we take a look at her journey in the 2024 US Open, Pegula overcame massive hurdles, including Grand Slam champions like Sofia Kenin (second round) and Iga Swiatek (QF) on her way to the final. But despite all her hard work throughout the tournament, her dream of clinching her maiden Grand Slam title came to an end after a defeat to the current world number one Aryna Sabalenka (5-7,5-7) in the final. Shortly after losing that match, she walked into the press conference with a stoic expression on her face, adjusting her ponytail and breathing a sigh of relief before giving her initial thoughts on the match. Despite the loss, she claimed that she knew her “level was right there!” If given a similar chance in the near future, would she fancy her chances yet again?
Jessica Pegula now understands her game pretty well, and after losing the biggest match of her career against Sabalenka, she said, “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.” Pegula became the oldest American to make the first Grand Slam final at that time.
After that, we saw her compatriot Madison Keys taking inspiration from her incredible run in New York, and becoming the fourth-oldest first-time Grand Slam women’s champion in the Open Era at the 2025 AO. Pegula, on the other hand, lost to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic in the third round of the AO.
Since we’re just a few days away from getting things rolling at the 2025 French Open. Does Jessica Pegula still have the hunger and will to bring home a major title? Well, speaking on this topic at a recent interview on USA Today, the world number 3, said, “I do feel like yeah, I definitely made a big jump last year. And that was important for me. But at the same time, I’m still excited and eager to try and do it again. And I think embracing that challenge is what tennis is all about. So, hopefully, I can stay fresh and mentally stay, you know…recover well and stay clear-headed. And yeah, take it day-by-day and you know hopefully that will help me kind of get through.”
Reaffirming her stance on her Grand Slam goals, she further added, “I know that I can do it. So, I think that makes it much easier when you know that you can do it.” Talking about the next big tournament, the French Open main draw starts from May 25, and before that, Jessica Pegula is all set to take part in the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
She’ll face Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in her first match. Can she get off to a winning start in Strasbourg? An impressive run in that tournament will definitely boost her confidence ahead of the Roland Garros. She missed the mega clay court event last year due to an injury, so she’d definitely want to make it count this time. What do her teammates have to say about her massive improvements and higher ambitions even at the age of 31?
“She has big goals” – Jessica Pegula’s coach sheds light on her hunger for success
The 53-year-old Bahamian former professional tennis player, Mark Knowles, started coaching Jessica Pegula alongside Mark Merklein last season. Knowles has vast experience in coaching some of the big names, including Milos Raonic, Jack Sock, and Mardy Fish. In March this year, during an interview, Pegula was spotted giving credit to Knowles for helping her embrace the “different challenge” posed by tennis every day.
With Knowles, Pegula has won titles at the German Open, Canadian Open, ATX Open, and Charleston Open. But the biggest success was reaching the final of the 2024 US Open. Talking about the contributions of her teammates, she said, “I think we’ve just kind of, me and him (Mark Knowles) and also Mark Merklein, are just kind of: ‘It’s going to be a different challenge every day.’ I think that’s something I’ve always been really good at, but I think the last year or so, or maybe last year, the beginning of last year, I was a little bit more easily frustrated.“
Talking about Knowles, she also added, “He’s a super optimistic, positive guy. No issue for him really – I think it was just more along the lines of that.” Relating to his optimism, how optimistic is he with Jessica Pegula’s ambitions in her career? In a previous interview with ESPN in the later phases of the 2024 season, Mark Knowles revealed, “She has big goals. 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.”
When it came to highlighting her hunger for success even at this age, the coach added, “I think she always had the belief that she could make a Grand Slam final, but now that’s been validated and her mindset has now shifted to, ‘I’m showing up to win this event’ before every tournament she plays.” He hailed Jessica Pegula as of the “toughest athletes” that he had ever seen. Not only that, Knowles even drew a comparison with NBA legend Kobe Bryant when it came to describing Pegula’s unmatched appetite for being great.
Jessica Pegula’s best result at the French Open was reaching the QF in 2022. Can she secure a winning momentum in Strasbourg and carry forward that to Paris?
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