Jessica Pegula admitted she came into the 2025 US Open feeling far from her best, describing her form and mindset as “terrible” in the lead-up. Despite the rocky start to her summer, the American has steadied herself with a string of strong performances in New York, booking a place in the quarterfinals for the second straight year and restoring confidence along the way.
What Challenges Did Jessica Pegula Face on Her Road to the US Open Quarterfinals?
Her path to Flushing Meadows had not been ideal. Pegula suffered a disappointing first-round exit at Wimbledon and failed to reach the last eight in any of her tune-up events, including the Citi DC Open, the Canadian Open, and the Cincinnati Open.
Arriving in New York, she joined forces with Jack Draper in the revamped mixed doubles draw. The top seeds notched impressive wins over Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz, followed by Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva, before bowing out in the semifinals to eventual finalists Iga Świątek and Casper Ruud in a tightly fought contest.
Pegula then turned her focus back to singles, where she overcame Mayar Sherif, Anna Blinkova, Victoria Azarenka, and Ann Li to earn a quarterfinal clash with the 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková.
No.4 seed Jessica Pegula is through to the quarterfinals in emphatic fashion! pic.twitter.com/y2EyKknHUt
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2025
In her post-match press conference, Pegula was candid about how shaky she had felt just days earlier. “I felt terrible coming into this tournament, honestly. I had a practice Wednesday, and I think I hit with [Aryna] Sabalenka. She just killed me. I was playing terrible. Then we went out for a second hour, and I stopped halfway through and was like, ‘I’m done. This isn’t good. I don’t know why I’m out here practicing’,” Pegula said.
“It was hard because that was the day after the mixed finished, so we were switching to different balls, and I was a little frustrated.” To reset her mindset, she chose to spend time away from tennis, doing an escape room with friends, having a couple of drinks, and reminding herself not to overthink.
She explained that her performance in the mixed doubles offered a small boost despite her frustrations. “I played well in the mixed, so I think that helped. Besides that bad day, I hadn’t really been playing good tennis, and I didn’t even feel like I’d been practicing well the last few weeks. It’s been really tough. Compared to last year, it’s been like a complete 180 with how I’ve felt,” she added.
“But after working my way into these matches and having some convincing wins, that’s always going to give me some confidence.” She added that by the fourth round, she finally felt more like herself on court, which she considered her biggest takeaway.
Looking ahead, Pegula will be meeting Krejčíková for the fourth time on the WTA Tour, with the latter holding a slight edge in their head-to-head record. The player who advances from this match will take on the winner of the clash between top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Cristina Bucșa or ninth seed Elena Rybakina and Markéta Vondroušová in the semifinals.
