After skipping the Madrid Open, Jessica Pegula surprisingly withdrew from the Italian Open in Rome as well.
It's been about two weeks since we last saw Pegula on the tennis courts. Her last matches were in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, after which she decided to take some time off.
It was not planned, but her initial plan was to play at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She withdrew from that event because of the proximity between the Billie Jean King Cup and that event.
She would have had to rush from the courts into a plane and fly to Europe to get there on time to play that event. It didn't sound very appealing to her, so she changed her plans at the last minute and skipped the event.
What was a bit surprising was when she decided to withdraw from the Madrid Open, especially since she played pretty well there historically. The reason was valid: She got hurt in practice and was simply not ready to compete at that event.
Unfortunately, the same goes for the upcoming Italian Open, as she withdrew from that event as well. Pegula did not provide an update about this withdrawal, but it's likely a precaution to prepare in the best way possible for the French Open.
What is pretty clear is that she's not ready to play yet and likely will take more time to get fit for Roland Garros. We don't even know what injury is in question, but whatever it is, it happened at the worst possible time for the American.
The year hasn't been all that great, even though her score overall looks solid: 14-6. Still, her clay-court part of the season has been non-existent, and she will be hoping to play at least at the French Open.