Jessica Pegula has enjoyed a fine start to the year and will be keen to add to her only title of the year here in Charleston.
After all, having impressed in Dubai back in February, just weeks after she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, it had been a mesmeric run of form for the 32-year-old.
She has since seen that form quelled by the quality of Elena Rybakina, who thwarted her in the quarter-finals of both Indian Wells and Miami.
Charleston offers an opportunity to get her year back on track.
However, in just her opening round match, Jessica Pegula suffered quite the scare. She has now detailed what caused this ‘little panic’ against Yulia Putintseva.
Jessica Pegula reacts after narrowly winning her first match in Charleston
Speaking to Tennis Channel, she spoke about how early in the second set she feared for her chances of staying in the competition.
After all, having lost the opening set, Pegula needed something to give if she was to turn the match around and continue her fine form in 2026.
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She discussed the stresses that came with such a task, admitting: “I had a little panic moment at the beginning of the second because I felt like nothing was working. I knew the patterns she was playing against me, but I couldn’t quite solve it.
“I was missing a lot of the balls to execute certain patterns for myself. I think I just committed a little bit more. I started returning better and being more aggressive with my returns, which was setting me up in the point a lot better.
“I didn’t really serve that great throughout the whole match, but I did find a little bit better serving spots, which I think helped me not get in trouble to start the point.”
Pegula then reserved praise for Putintseva’s level, adding: “But she was playing perfectly. She was hanging tough.
“She was playing high, loopy balls, and I was saying it was tough with the shadow on one side and the wind. With the higher balls, I wanted to take some out of the air, but it’s hard to judge those, and the wind starts moving them around and you start second-guessing yourself. Then you feel so out of place.
“So it was trying to find the balance of when to come in and when not to come in, and that’s really hard when she is forcing you to do it every single point, which she made me do up until the last point.”
Pegula can rival Coco Gauff on key WTA list if she wins Charleston, as if she needed any more incentive.
Could Jessica Pegula win a Grand Slam title in 2026?
Pegula, for years, was seen as a top-level player who was incapable of pushing on at the Grand Slam level.
After all, having enjoyed a fine flourish slightly later in her career than most, the American endured an unprecedented level of consistency at majors, whilst failing to surpass the quarter-final stage.
Between 2021 and 2023, she featured in 12 of these events and reached that stage on six occasions. She lost all of those matches.
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Fortunately, she has since put that curse to bed, reaching a Grand Slam final in 2024 and a further two semi-finals in the years that have followed.
It feels like Pegula is building towards something big, just as she reaches the twilight of her career.
On her day, she can challenge anyone on tour. It will take the stars to align, but her ability to hang with the sport’s most elite players for so long and continue to improve means she should never be discounted.
