Jessica Pegula Details Injury Struggles After Brisbane Withdrawal
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Jessica Pegula will have a bit of an unwanted start to the 2025 season, and it's because of an injury that bothered her.
The American player was among the eight best players in the 2024 season, which meant that she qualified for the WTA Finals. Unfortunately for her, she lost the first two matches in straight sets, and after that, Pegula withdrew from the WTA Finals.
It was a disappointing end to the season for the 30-year-old player, who certainly hoped to fare better in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the year-end championship was held.
To start the 2025 season, Pegula planned to compete at the Brisbane International, where she would have been the second seed behind Aryna Sabalenka, who ended up winning the tournament.
Shortly before the start of the WTA 500 event, Pegula announced her withdrawal, worrying fans about her physical state ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
After withdrawing from the Brisbane International, Pegula appeared at the Adelaide International, all ready to compete. She had to change her plans after an injury stopped her from competing in Brisbane.
Speaking during her pre-tournament press conference, the 2024 US Open finalist explained that a knee injury that also bothered her at the WTA Finals forced her to withdraw from the Brisbane International.
"Off-season was pretty good. I was kind of battling a little bit of a knee injury that I withdrew in Saudi with. I felt like it went well, but I just needed kind of a little bit of an extra week."
"That's why I opted out of playing Brisbane and starting here instead. Yeah, but feeling really good. All is well. Enjoyed the nice break and ready to start the 2025 season."
Playing in the week before the Grand Slam is not something that Pegula would usually want to do, but in these circumstances, she opted to sign up for the Adelaide International, even if it meant not-ideal preparation for the major in Melbourne.
She explained that there was no other way to get in some matches after her withdrawal from the Brisbane International, so she just had to accept that she would have to play in the week before the major.
"The tournament here, the draw is really, really tough, so I think it will be good to test how my body's feeling and everything."
"Normally, I'd probably play more than one before a slam, maybe not the week before a slam. At the same time, I was dealing with an injury. That's just kind of how the schedule worked out."
"Yeah, I'll just have to deal with it, I guess, for this week. Excited to definitely play some matches before going into the Australian Open."
Pegula is the top seed in Adelaide, which means she has a first-round bye, and in the second round of the tournament, she will play against the winner of the match between Linda Noskova and Maria Sakkari, who got in as a lucky loser after Mirra Andreeva's withdrawal.
