Jessica Pegula made it to the 2024 US Open final, which is a major achievement for her because there were times in the past when she didn't want to play tennis anymore.
Pegula had never made it past the quarter-final at a major before this year's US Open. She always played amazingly until the quarter-final but then seemingly just stopped performing at that level.
When she finally booked her maiden semi-final, Pegula joked about being mostly glad the media couldn't ask her about her quarter-final record anymore. Obviously, making the semi-final was a huge accomplishment for her, but it was telegraphed in the weeks prior.
She won the Canadian Open in Toronto with a super sturdy performance, and she followed that up with another solid run at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, making the final, in which she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
She carried that type of form over to New York, and she was able to not only make the semi-final but win that semi-final matchup against Karolina Muchova.
They faced each other in Cincinnati as well, and the match was very similar to what fans at Flushing Meadows got to see. Muchova won the opening set in both matches, but Pegula was able to win both matches in three sets.
After the match, the American was obviously very happy with the result, but this run has a much deeper meaning for Pegula because, at one point, she was done with tennis.
There were moments when she seriously considered quitting because she didn't want to play anymore. It's understandable—the sport is very tough.
The seasons are long, players lose all the time, and that accumulates. Most tennis players only get a proper break once they stop, and many have started taking breaks mid-career as well.
The 30-year-old pushed through and was rewarded, reaching her maiden Grand Slam final. She spoke about how challenging the times before were.
"I don’t know if I thought its not gonna happen, but there's definitely moments where either I didn’t want to play tennis, I didn’t really know if I wanted to do it anymore. You definitely hit those types of low moments."
Pegula never reached a point where she was about to stop playing because she was always able to snap out of it. There were moments when she thought about it or considered it, but for the most part, she didn't make that decision. She never came close to doing it and hailed her own resilience in stopping herself from doing that.
"I’ve had several of those, but in the end I always would kind of snap back and be like okay, what am I talking about. I would always flip the script a little bit and I have always been good at doing that. And I think that’s why I’ve been able to come back from different challenges even better than before."
After many tries, she will finally get a chance to compete for a Grand Slam trophy. It won't be easy because she will be facing Aryna Sabalenka, who is the only player who bested her in the previous 16 matches she played, but on home soil, anything can happen for the American.
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