Not many players experience the feeling of playing a Grand Slam tournament on home soil, but Jessica Pegula will have that honor.
Competing in her eighth US Open main draw starting on Monday, August 26th, Pegula is considered one of the main favorites for the title. She's been in a rich vein of form in the build-up to the final Grand Slam of the season.
The 30-year-old American defended the Canadian Open in Toronto, the first successful title defense of this tournament by a WTA player in 24 years. This past week, she extended her win streak to nine matches following her run to the Cincinnati Open final.
It equaled her career-best winning sequence of results before it came to a screeching halt at the hands of an in-form Aryna Sabalenka in the title match. Nonetheless, a 9-1 record just before the US Open is the stat most players would love to have under their belt.
But Pegula takes a completely different approach. Past results only serve as motivation to her, and that can present its own challenges. In an interview with WTA Insider, the World No. 6 explained how she's become "anxious" and "stressed" because of replicating those results in a Grand Slam.
"You go into a Slam, and I’m like, ‘Oh, man, I did so well the last couple weeks – but you want to do it in a Slam even more. So now you got to start over, and the anxiety and all the stress just comes right back."
It is pertinent to note that Pegula's season veered off course in the first half of 2024 when she parted ways with longtime coach David Witt and brought new personnel. She also had to deal with two separate injuries, missing the Middle East swing and the European clay swing.
As a result, she dropped outside the top five for the first time in a long time. But Pegula's results picked up during the grass-court season when she made her comeback, winning the WTA 500 in Berlin after saving multiple match points in the final.
Pegula eyes a spot at the season-ending WTA Finals, where she made the final last year in Cancun. She had a mountain to climb when she withdrew from this year's French Open because she was outside the Top 20 of the race.
However, the turnaround in North America has elevated her chances of appearing at this showpiece event, which will be held in Saudi Arabia. She is now as high as 7th in the WTA Race to Riyadh.
"I don’t stress about defending points. But at least now knowing that I put myself in a good position for the end of the year to do well, to maybe make the Finals."
"I know that I had finals defending from last year, and I think that was the only thing that kind of stressed me out a little bit. I know that I am at least putting myself in a good position to get a chance to defend, which takes a lot of pressure off."
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