Jessica Pegula’s candid confession that she felt left behind after six very tough months

Jessica Pegula didn’t believe reaching the WTA Finals was possible just two months ago, but then she pulled off what she described as ‘magic’ and now finds herself in a great position to win the prestigious season-ending tournament for a third year. pick up in a row.

After struggling with multiple injuries in the first part of the season and having a pretty tough year overall, the American managed to win her first title of the year on the grass courts of Berlin after missing the French Open . But disappointingly, her difficult year continued as she suffered a shock exit in the second round of Wimbledon, leading to more doubts and anxiety.

Due to her form, there wasn’t much talk about Pegula moving to the North American hard court swing. But soon after it started, she was noticed again after winning the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto. That was just the beginning, however, as the 30-year-old also finished second in Cincinnati and also reached her first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

After racking up the most points on hard courts over the summer, the American improved to 4,466 points collected in 2024 and is now fifth on the Race to the WTA Finals list. Actually and literally, she won more points in these three tournaments than she combined in all the tournaments played earlier this year.

“There is no chance of reaching the year-end finals. I’m going to have to win a major, and several thousand,” Pegula recalled thinking in an interview with the WTA website.

Pegula: There were many doubts…

At the start of the year, the current world number 3 lost early at the Australian Open and later skipped the swing in the Middle East due to a neck injury. She then also suffered a rib problem that prevented her from participating in the French Open.

Although the American has been one of the best and most consistent players on Tour in recent years, everything that happened this year left her with doubts and fear.

“I know it was always possible, you can get hot, but that wasn’t necessarily on my radar. There were obviously a lot of doubts. But I trusted that the work I did and the mentality would come back. I think that In the end I decided to try to trust the process, to trust the training. The fact that I missed half a year doesn’t mean that I forgot how to play at the top level. There are so many things that I am really proud of’, Pegula explained.

Pegula silences her critics, but still has some regrets

As mentioned above, the reigning champion from Toronto has consistently made deep runs in the biggest tournaments in recent years. But there was one thing her critics and doubters often used against her: she simply couldn’t get past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.

When she competed in the US Open this year, she was 0-6 at that particular stage of a Major. And after she reached the last eight at Flushing Meadows but had to play world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, some openly doubted she could win. But the American did just that, upsetting the top-seeded Pole 6-2 6-4 to reach her first major semi-final and then her first final.

In the final, Pegula still had an extremely difficult task, as she had to face Aryna Sabalenka, who had already reached three major finals. The American did not embarrass herself as she competed extremely well, but it was the second-seeded Belarusian who scraped past with a 7-5 7-5 win.

Now the 30-year-old admits that when it all sunk in, she was initially a little disappointed knowing she was just one win away from becoming a Slam champion

“Wow, you were so close to calling yourself a champion and now you’re calling yourself a finalist. And things like that are stupid. But at the same time I broke a lot of barriers. After a few days of being upset, you come to the conclusion: Everyone talks to you about it and says, ‘No, it was a really great match,'” she said.

In the second set, Pegula led 5–3 before dropping the next four games and ultimately the match. But when asked whether nerves were the cause of this, the world number 3 disagreed.

“Today I felt pretty good, I wasn’t nervous. I felt like I was ready. Maybe that changes when you start the match, but I didn’t feel nervous. I think I got the moment pretty good settled, except that I was not ahead, the American underlined after the final.

Meanwhile, Pegula is playing at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing this week, where she started with a win over Diane Parry.