Jessica Pegula keeps the USA flag flying high at the Australian Open
Jessica Pegula fights off Barbora Krejcikova to make it into her third consecutive quarter-final at the 2023 Australian Open.
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Jessica Pegula
Third seed Jessica Pegula overcome up-and-down yo-yo type form to outsmart Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 6-2 to enter the quarter-finals of the women’s singles at the 2023 Australian Open. The hoop and hoopla over the rise of the Americans Down Under was a bit misguided, it seems.
Yet, for the 28-year-old Jessica to come out tops despite a game which was not 100 percent perfect showed her hunger and zeal to win a big match. On a day when Jessica’s ‘total first serves in’ was only a 56 percentage, she managed to win more points off it. But the big difference in the ultimate analysis was how she showed better maturity in controlling the pattern of play with her second serve.
That stood at 68 per cent, a massive rise of 32 per cent over her rival’s weak serve. To say that both the players were under pressure would be stating the obvious. They did go for broke, slamming winners when they created the opportunity. The key was to keep the ball in play and cut on the number of errors. 36 unforced errors from Barbora was something not even a billionaire could have offered in a match of this stature.
In contrast, again, Jessica’s composure stood out as she made only 20 errors. Stats do not necessarily sum up an entire match lasting an hour and 41 minutes at the John Cain Arena, yet the Stars and Stripes player showed a stomach to fight hard and play tennis which was bold. These days, when you have precocious teenagers also in wannabe-champion mode, Jessica is not young by any yardstick.
Related: Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina dumps top seed Iga Swiatek out of Australian Open
This is Jessica Pegula’s third straight quarter-final at the Australian Open
But then, to rise to the top in the fourth round made for great viewing when Iga Switatek and another American, Coco Gauff, bombed at the box office. To be sure, Jessica, born in Buffalo, New York, is the top seed left in the women’s draw now. She now lives in Charleston, South Carolina. Amazing isn’t it, because not too many were taking her name for creating an impact Down Under in the season’s first Major of 2023.
The body language of Jessica matches that of a boxer today. She was in the zone, as they say in tennis. She has no pretensions of being a big player, unlike other well-known names. However, the draw has opened up for her, and she feels she can hit the cruise control button. The way seeds have failed to sprout this time in Melbourne, Jessica will do well to stick to the basics of tennis. She was in the quarter-finals of three Grand Slams in 2022 — Australian, French, and the US Open.
Jessica does see a window of opportunity to make her maiden semi-finals at a Grand Slam. And, why not. “I definitely want to reach a semi. It will be my first semi. I mean, I have a great shot here,” Pegula said. “I feel more confident, I feel more experience being in this position. I think I definitely feel maybe a little bit more settled than I have in the past in those tournaments,” added Jessica.
“I’ve been playing the best I have than in any of my other Grand Slam quarterfinals. That I think helps. I think I feel more experience coming in here. I think my win today will give me a lot of confidence,” said Jessica, her tone and tenor suggesting she is ready to give it her best shot this time in Australia. The first Grand Slam does help players who are settled, in that sense, Jessica is in a positive frame of mind now.
The fact she has made it three times in a row to the quarter-finals at the AO will be good for her when steps out again. She may not have won big titles at the Majors, but if consistency is to be counted, Jessica has been a standout performer in the last three years in the WTA Tour. Off the court, Jessica is a smart lady as well. She runs a skincare company called “Ready 24.” In addition, she runs “A Lending Paw” a charity effort as well.
Jessica is the daughter of Kim Pegula (a South Korean-born American business owner) and Terry Pegula, the American professional sports investor and natural gas tycoon. Terry Pegula owns Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. With his wife Kim they are also part of the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League.
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)