Jessica Pegula vaults back into conversation with Canada title defense, talks upswing in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI—And just like that, Jessica Pegula’s bad year just got a whole lot better.

The former world No. 3 was largely absent from tour earlier in the season due to early exits and injuries—the latter forcing her out of Indian Wells, Miami, and Roland Garros—but a title defense at the National Bank Open in Toronto has vaulted her back into the conversation just in time for the 2024 US Open.

“It’s definitely taken more of an upturn,” she said during her Media Day press conference at the Cincinnati Open. “I kept saying that it looks like a bad year but I’ve won a 500 and a 1000, so I know the level’s still there and I just need to stay healthy and do my best the rest of the year.”

It was definitely a tough week, mentally, so to be able to come back the next week and just focus on competing in a way almost helped me. I didn’t have time to think about how I was really feeling, or it’s not like I had this massive prep where I was going into this week expecting to do well. Jessica Pegula on going from Olympic clay to Canadian hard courts

Pegula first showed signs of turning things around on grass when she won her first title in eight months at the ecotrans Ladies Open, but the American began the US Open swing with few expectations after a busy schedule—one that included an appearance at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris—threatened to derail her momentum.

Instead, she hit the ground running, reaching a second straight final up North without dropping a set and ultimately becoming the first woman since Martina Hingis in 2000 to pull off the Montréal-Toronto double.

“It was definitely a tough week, mentally,” she said of her second-round exits in Olympic singles and doubles, “so to be able to come back the next week and just focus on competing in a way almost helped me. I didn’t have time to think about how I was really feeling, or it’s not like I had this massive prep where I was going into this week expecting to do well.

“It was kind of like, ‘Ok, let’s kind of see where we are. Let’s try to get the movement back, the feeling back on hard court with the balls,’ and stuff like that. I almost wonder in a way if it kind of helped.

“Hopefully, I can use that mindset this week!”

I missed a lot of the beginning of the year, so I feel mentally pretty good where some other people might feel more run down. I’m mentally prepared to grind out the end of the year more than I would be the last few years. Jessica Pegula

Pegula was charmingly punchy at times, reminding the press that the quick turnaround meant she could offer little insight into the conditions at the Lindner Family Tennis Center this week.

“I haven’t hit here yet! I just got in. I haven’t even seen my locker!”

She also opened up about the emotions—and the emotional release—that came with winning what she considers a home tournament.

“I was able to defend a title I’ve always done well at, in a place that’s somewhat close to home, close to Buffalo,” she explained of the tears shed after overcoming fellow American Amanda Anisimova in a three-set final.

“I had my parents, my grandparents, my husband, some friends there. It was nice to go through that whole week, play some good tennis when I needed to, and come out on top. I think it was just happy tears for a happy week.”

Seeded No. 6 in Cincinnati, Pegula is guaranteed to open with a tough test, facing either 2023 finalist Karolina Muchova or Dayana Yastremska, but despite the breakneck pace, Pegula is ready to keep running until the off-season.

“I missed a lot of the beginning of the year, so I feel mentally pretty good where some other people might feel more run down. I’m mentally prepared to grind out the end of the year more than I would be the last few years.”

In form and feeling fresh, one can’t help but wonder: how much better can Jessica Pegula’s year get?