Amanda Anisimova Lauds Jessica Pegula for Her Role as WTA Council Leader

Amanda Anisimova dismantled Emma Raducanu to schedule a fourth-round match against Victoria Mboko in Indian Wells.

Amanda Anisimova Lauds Jessica Pegula for Her Role as WTA Council Leader

Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova (Image via X/Advantage Tennis, TNT Sports)

In Short
  • Jessica Pegula has been appointed as the leader of the new WTA architecture council, aiming to address the challenging 11-month calendar for players.
  • Amanda Anisimova praised Pegula's efforts to improve conditions for players while reflecting on their competitive matches.
  • Emma Raducanu suffered an early exit against Anisimova, marking her third early round loss in WTA 1000 events this year.

Jessica Pegula has been appointed as the leader of the new WTA architecture council. One of the issues that players face and that Pegula wants to fix is the challenging 11-month calendar.

After surviving a scare against Donna Vekic in her Indian Wells opener, the American ace addressed the hectic calendar and expressed her hope to make her fellow players’ lives a “little bit easier” the next year. Fello countrywoman Amanda Anisimova, after breezing past Emma Raducanu in the third round, commented on her matches against Pegula and lauded her for what she is doing as a member of the WTA council.

She’s a very tough player for me, as you can see from our head-to-head matches. In fact, I enjoy playing against her. I feel like I learn more about myself and my game, about where I can improve. I like to keep playing against her because I feel like it makes me a better player. It’s very inspiring to see that she’s trying to make changes and help the players on the circuit. Balancing that with training, commitments, and tournaments is not easy at all.

Pegula has so far met the two-time Grand Slam finalist five times, winning all of those fixtures. The last time they met was in the semifinals of the 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships.

Pegula, after knocking out the 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist, came from a set down to eliminate Jelena Ostapenko to schedule a fourth-round clash with Belinda Bencic. The 2024 US Open finalist is chasing her second title of the season following her successful run in Dubai, where she lifted her fourth WTA 1000 title by defeating Elina Svitolina.

Amanda Anisimova ties her head-to-head record with Emma Raducanu

It took Amanda Anisimova just 52 minutes to down Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-1 in the third round and tie her head-to-head record to 2-2. This is the third time Raducanu has suffered an early round exit in the WTA 1000 events this year.

Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu (Image via X/Emma Raducanu Fan)

It was difficult to come close to putting my stamp on the match. That goes with playing Amanda – she is that sort of opponent who likes to put her stamp on it first. I have to take some positives. The first match here was better than a lot of matches I have been playing recently, but a match like that [against Anisimova] is never easy to take.

Emma Raducanu said at the press conference

Raducanu has yet to progress to the quarterfinals in the California desert, reaching the fourth round just once (2023). Last year, she suffered an opening-round exit. The Brit, who has yet to win a title since the 2021 US Open triumph, made the final of the Transylvania Open this year, losing to Sorana Cirstea. This marked only the second time she reached a tour-level final.

Apart from her lopsided performances, the 23-year-old is also struggling to find the right coach to work with. Rafael Nadal‘s former coach, Francisco Roig, left her team following the Australian Open, where she suffered a second-round exit. For Indian Wells, Raducanu decided to re-hire Mark Petchey, but not as a full-time coach.

While Raducanu will be hoping to produce even a better run than the previous year in the Miami Open (she reached the quarterfinals last year), Anisimova will be gearing up for a tough round of 16 match, because she will be up against Victoria Mboko, also the reigning Canadian Open champion. Anisimova will be meeting the Canadian for the first time.

Prior to scheduling the match against Anisimova, the 19-year-old knocked out Anna Kalinskaya. Anisimova has so far won two WTA 1000 titles: last year’s Qatar Open and the China Open.

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