The 2024 clay season is not going well for Jessica Pegula, who has yet to formally start it as she has yet to play a match on the red dirt on the WTA Tour.
The American last played in the Billie Jean King Cup, where she helped her country secure a spot in the Finals later that year. The initial plan back then was to go to Stuttgart and play at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but due to the tight schedule, Pegula opted against that.
Her first event in the 2024 clay season should have been the Madrid Open, a place where she played well in the past and made a final once. It was a sound plan, but it didn't come true because the American suffered an injury during preparation for that event.
That wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a huge problem either, or at least it didn't look like a huge problem initially. It's proving to be quite a problem because she first withdrew from the Madrid Open and then also from the Italian Open in Rome.
She even posted a small update on social media admitting that her Roland Garros participation might be in doubt, though it's not ruled out yet. That's a huge problem because no player wants o miss Grand Slam events.
There haven't been any updates since then, but Pegula withdrew also from the Strasbourg Open, which is supposed to begin in a few days. It's the final event before Roland Garros, so the fact that she won't be playing there might signal that she won't be playing in Paris either.
It might also signal that she's just skipping it to better prepare for Roland Garors, so only the upcoming weeks will really reveal the truth about her physical condition and readiness to compete in the French capital.