Jessica Pegula battled valiantly alongside her British partner, Jack Draper, throughout the US Open mixed doubles tournament. However, the duo was eliminated in the semifinals by the pairing of Iga Świątek and Casper Ruud.
Following the heartbreaking loss, the American opened up about transitioning to singles competition at the year’s final major.
Why Jessica Pegula Believes US Open Mixed Doubles Event Was ‘Weird’?
Pegula, 31, admitted the past couple of days have been an adjustment as she shifted from mixed doubles back into singles preparation at the US Open. “Yeah, it was a little weird. We lost, and the matches went kind of late. We didn’t even get to the last match,” Pegula said.
“Had to practice the next morning. And yeah, feels weird. Switching back to the regular duty balls for the women was also a little tricky. Playing outside yesterday, it was really cold and windy.”
The American added that the conditions forced her to regroup. “Definitely, yesterday I felt like I had to reset a little bit to get back into the conditions. But I have multiple days before I play, so it’s not that big of a deal. I was practicing days before that, too.”
Despite the unusual rhythm, Pegula said the experience of playing mixed doubles on Arthur Ashe Stadium has its benefits.
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“It definitely is a little bit of a weird kind of experience playing on Ashe with such great energy,” said the American.
She continued, “But at the same time, I’ll be back there Sunday night. You know, I have to say it’s probably good prep for me to be, you know, used to those crowds and that condition.”
In the first round of the US Open, Pegula will face Egypt’s Mayar Sherif, who was ranked as high as No. 31 in the world in June, 2023.
Previously, Pegula has slammed the US Open for implementing drastic changes to its mixed doubles format without consulting a large section of players. As a member of the WTA Players’ Council, Pegula felt the tournament organizers had bypassed an important step in the decision-making process.
“We were like, Okay, you guys (US Open) just went rogue and changed the format and didn’t tell anybody,” Pegula commented on the changes. “You just kind of did it.”
“Did you talk to the players?” Pegula questioned. “Did you get their input about how it could be better? I think that’s just something that we as players are trying to work with them on, having that line of communication be a lot smoother.”
Last year’s mixed doubles champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, publicly criticized the scheduling change as a “profound injustice.” Despite their criticism, however, they were granted wildcards to compete at the event and managed to defend their title.
