Jessica Pegula has been around the apex of the women’s game for so long now, as a consistent threat to everyone on tour.
However, despite her continued presence at the pinnacle, the American has just one Grand Slam final to show for it.
This still represents a huge success, despite losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open, as most players will go their entire careers without managing such a feat.
In fact, the vast majority of the tour will not even make it to a quarter-final, which ironically became the stage at which many sections of the media used to berate Jessica Pegula for regularly reaching but failing to surpass.
Recently, she has spoken about this narrative.
Jessica Pegula’s complaint about one media narrative
Having quashed this claim ever since reaching that US Open final in 2024, it’s clear that some frustration remains.
After all, this was a tired narrative which was run at every single major, with Pegula paying it no mind.
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She told The Changeover Podcast: “I feel like that hoopla was honestly more like other people. Like, I never really felt it; it just kept happening. Like, but I wasn’t like, oh my gosh, I’m never gonna get over the hump.
“I was just like, well, I mean, you get to the end of a tournament. It gets really hard. So, like, I’m like, I’ve still done pretty well. Like, I’m still putting myself in that position. It wasn’t really, like, a mental block.
“It was more, you know, media and everyone talking about it, that kind of made it into a thing. And they’re like, What do you think you need to do? And I just, I would always say, like, I need to win the match, and then I’m in the semis. Like, that’s pretty much the difference.”
Pegula then tried to explain that, whilst she was falling at that same hurdle, it was not for lack of trying. She continued: “Like, I don’t know what else… I’m playing the best girls in the world. Like, it’s not that easy to just, like, think you’re gonna fly through a slam.
“So that, I think was a little bit manifested. I never truly felt crazy, crazy upset about that. But obviously, when I did get over it, I was kind of like, okay, everyone can stop talking about it now, because I just, it’s annoying being asked a lot of times.”
Pegula and Madison Keys both named their WTA player of the season just last month, and they were both in total agreement.
What is Jessica Pegula’s best-ever run at all four Grand Slams?
Pegula’s consistent presence around the top of the world rankings has come from her ability to regularly reach the second week of slams.
As such, she has achieved her best-ever run at some majors multiple times.
In Melbourne, for example, Pegula has made it to the quarter-finals on three separate occasions, in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
She will be hoping to return to that stage and beyond later this month, having crashed out in the third round last year.
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Credit: Sofascore
The French Open and Wimbledon have been historically tougher for the American, but again, she has reached the quarterfinal of each event once, in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Meanwhile, her best US Open performance is obviously that run to the final in 2024.
However, Pegula followed that up with an impressive showing just a few months ago, where she fell in the semi-finals to Sabalenka in a hard-fought three-set clash.
