Jessica Pegula has taken giant strides later in her career by becoming one of the very best players in the world.
The American is yet to win a Grand Slam, but she currently sits at world number 6 after winning her fourth Masters event at the Dubai Championships.
Pegula now has high hopes of winning the Charleston Open, which would continue her impressive start to the season.
The star is edging closer and closer to winning her maiden Grand Slam title and her coach, Mark Knowles, has confirmed the reason she is yet to do so.
Mark Knowles discusses Jessica Pegula’s Grand Slam hopes
Pegula has been working with Knowles since 2024, and the American has undoubtedly become a better player under his watch.
She reached her only Grand Slam final to date under Knowles at the 2024 US Open, which she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
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In a recent interview with the Inside-In Tennis Podcast, Knowles admitted that Pegula’s world number one chances have taken a hit due to the dominance of Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
“It’s a great challenge, right? If you go back to the two years that we’ve been with Jess, obviously, if you could change the results of the Sabalenka and Rybakina matches, I think Jess would be number one in the world and in a completely different stratosphere.”
Pegula has often tasted very narrow defeats to the current top two players on the WTA Tour and Knowles has rued missed chances.
“A lot of those matches have been extremely close and a lot of them have been at the highest level, right? It’s tough sometimes in tennis, but it’s sometimes you got to tip your cap to your opponent, right?,” he said.
“A lot of times, Jess has lost these close matches, she hasn’t lost them, right? The other girls have won them.
“Obviously, the latest match, the one in Miami where Jess was obviously completely in control against Rybakina, won this first set super easily, had a bunch of break points early in the second.
“Probably one point away from winning two and three against one of the hottest players in the world, but as all great champions do, um, full credit to Rybakina, right?
“She’s been playing so well, her confidence is so high. Similar to what we’ve experienced against Aryna over the last 18 to 24 months. They have the ability to execute under pressure, right?”
Knowles believes Pegula has been as good, if not better, than Rybakina and Sabalenka on occasions, and she just needs to make a mental shift.
“They have tremendous confidence in themselves. And it can be frustrating, right? I think it helps when you’re a former player that you understand the frustrations, but you also are thankful for the challenge, right?
“She lost to Rybakina in a tough three-setter in Riyad; a match honestly she probably was the better player, but my favourite saying is that tennis doesn’t owe you anything. That’s just the sport.
“Tennis really doesn’t owe you anything, so the minute you start to think that tennis owes you something, you’re in trouble.”
Pegula will be enjoying the Charleston Open as the top seed and has a chance to lift a trophy not attended by either of her top rivals.
Jessica Pegula’s head-to-head record against Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina
Pegula, unsurprisingly, currently holds losing head-to-head records against both Sabalenka and Rybakina, but she has tasted some success.
The American has lost nine times to Sabalenka since the first meeting in 2020, including all three of their meetings at Grand Slams.
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Pegula’s wins against Sabalenka have come on big stages though, at two Masters events and the WTA Finals.
She has fared slightly better against Rybakina, although she has still lost six of her nine matches against the star.
Rybakina has beaten Pegula in each of their last four matches, including three times already this season.
