Jessica Pegula Doesn’t Write Off Not Winning a Grand Slam in Her Early 30s Following Dubai Victory

Jessica Pegula claimed her fourth WTA 1000 at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Jessica Pegula Doesn’t Write Off Not Winning a Grand Slam in Her Early 30s Following Dubai Victory

Jessica Pegula captured her 10th career title at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week and her fourth WTA 1000 crown. The 31-year-old who turns 32 on Tuesday (February 24) has won more than half of her career tour-level titles since turning 30. However, she’s still chasing her maiden Grand Slam.

Pegula’s best run in a Grand Slam came at the 2024 US Open in New York, where she reached the final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. Since then, she reached the semi-finals of two Slams, including the 2026 Australian Open, where she lost to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the last four.

The World No. 4 has had an incredible late-career evolution, becoming a top competitor on the women’s circuit. The American star did not break into the top 10 until 2022 at the age of 28 and has maintained her position for four consecutive seasons, competing with Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff, who are way younger than her.

The late bloom was noticeable at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she claimed her fourth WTA 1000 title on Saturday (February 21) after beating Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4 in just an hour and 13 minutes on the court. She defeated three top 20 players en route to the final – Amanda Anisimova, Clara Tauson, and Iva Jovic.

Pegula won her first WTA 1000 at the Guadalajara Open in 2022, which means she has won three of those level title since turning 28. During her post-match interview with the WTA Tour, she revealed that despite still searching for her first major title on tour, her focus is to inspire younger players that they can compete at the highest level in their 30s:

I’m old, you can say it. I don’t feel that old because I had so many injuries in my early 20s that I don’t think I’ve built up the wear and tear on tour yearly, I hope I can inspire girls to show that you don’t have to be 20 years old. You can still play really good tennis if you take care of your body and keep improving. So, yeah, I’m really proud of myself that I can do that as a player at 32 now. I don’t think that’s necessarily the norm, but we saw that on the men’s tour and women, too.

Besides Pegula, Svitolina is also in her 30s and she’s still competing for her first Grand Slam. She had a glorious run at the Australian Open last month, reaching the semi-finals before losing to Sabalenka in straight sets. The Ukrainian broke back into the top 10 after her run in Melbourne, and she’s World No.9, less than 200 points below Mirra Andreeva in No.8.

Jessica Pegula opens up on why she plays best on hard courts

Jessica Pegula has been one player who has featured in back-to-back events despite her age, and she has been at her physical best over the past 14 months. Last season, she reached the final of six tournaments and won three of them, including the Charleston Open and the ATX Open in Texas, United States of America.

Jessica Pegula (2)
Jessica Pegula (Image via X/WTA)

This week she’s back on the court without much rest as she aims to defend her ATX Open in her home country. During the aforementioned interview, she opened up about why the hard court is her best surface on tour as she has won all four of her WTA 1000 titles on hard courts:

I take the ball very early. Hard court, I like the footing on hard. I like that there’s no bad bounces, things that can go wrong. Tere’s a very true bounce so I can get into a good rhythm pretty easily. I hit pretty hard, deep and flat, so I think my ball kind of skids through the court. I think tonight, even last night [against Anisimova] I found it at the end and was able to carry it into today.

Pegula will open her ATX Open campaign against Rebecca Šramková in the round of 32. The WTA 250 tournament comes just before the Indian Wells Open, which is scheduled to kick off on March 4. However, there are expectations that Pegula might still withdraw from the ATX Open.

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