Jessica Pegula embraces “like new” Wuhan tournament, builds towards WTA Finals return

WUHAN, China—Jessica Pegula has played just once before at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open; with that 2019 result in mind, the world No. 3 was loath to outline any grandiose expectations at her Media Day press conference.

“Last time I was in Wuhan, I think I lost, 6-0, 6-1,” she said, perfectly recalling a first-round defeat to Polona Hercog from over five years ago. “Maybe winning more than one game will be a good challenge to have.”

Pegula is known as much for her dry sense of humor as her on-court consistency. But the latter all but abandoned her earlier in the year when a mid-season coaching switch and prolonged neck injury put her chances of a third straight WTA Finals appearance in serious jeopardy.

Needing at least Top 8 finish, she was ranked down at No. 19 in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals standings after Wimbledon.

Every week is a new chance to turn your year around. Jessica Pegula

“I’m not really one to look at points or what it takes to defend them every week, but the one thing that was kind of a bummer a few months ago was that you have to qualify for the WTA Finals to be able to defend the points,” explained Pegula, who finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the Finals last fall. “So I was thinking, ‘That’s going to suck to not have a chance to defend any of it.’ I was not too happy about that and was a little down about it.”

To borrow a phrase, the American has flipped the script since then. She solidified a new team consisting of "Mark and Mark”—Knowles and Merklein—and went on a tear after the Summer Olympics in Paris. She became the first woman in two decades to win back-to-back titles at the Canadian Open, finished runner-up at the Cincinnati Open, and stunned Swiatek en route to her first Grand Slam final at the US Open.

“It’s funny,” she said, reflecting on her whirlwind summer. “The US Open final, it seems like so long ago and like we’ve already moved onto the next thing. Tennis can be like that, in a good way if you’ve had a bad week, but in a brutal way if you’ve had a great couple weeks.”

Her start to the Asian Swing has been a mixed bag: two wins at the China Open but a thudding 6-4, 6-0 loss to Paula Badosa in the third round.

“I think I played some good tennis in Beijing, so I want to keep building on that, improving, and learning from what I could have done better last week so I can take it into this week,” said Pegula, who has won 17 of her last 20 matches.

“Obviously, I’m playing much better now than I was last time I came to Wuhan,” she added. “Hopefully, I’ll try to redeem myself a little bit for a better result than in 2019.”

Though her last trip to Wuhan was comically brief, she laps potential opening-round opponents Anastasia Potapova and Katie Volynets in experience at a tournament that has been off the WTA calendar since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Some of the younger girls or even Coco [Gauff] who told me, ‘I’ve actually never been.’ I was like, ‘You’ve never been?’” she said, teasing her 20-year-old countrywoman.

“It does feel like a new event in a way, especially for me: I think I only played it once or twice. It’s like a new 1000 has been thrown into the calendar, but it’s always nice for a schedule where you’re going to a lot of the same places to come somewhere that feels a little bit new. I think it gives a little bit more excitement.”

Anchoring the bottom half of the draw, Pegula will attract plenty of attention as Wuhan’s No. 2 seed. She even has a chance to exact revenge against Badosa, who is her projected third-round opponent for the second week in a row, as she edges towards confirming her spot at the WTA Finals.

"Тhat’s what is so great about tennis,” she said. “Every week is a new chance to turn your year around.”