WTA Player of the Year Countdown, No. 5: Jessica Pegula

2023 By The Numbers

• 59-18: Overall win-loss record
• 13-4: Grand Slam win-loss record (AO QF, RG 3R, W QF, USO 4R)
• 2: Titles (Montreal, Seoul)
• 3: Runner-ups (Doha, Tokyo, WTA Finals)
• 6: Number of sets that ended 6-0 or 6-1 in finals she played this year (won two, lost four)
• 11: Voting points in WTA Player of the Year Countdown (See "The Voters' Thoughts" below for more.)

Tracy's Take

This year’s WTA Finals in Cancun revealed a lot about Jessica Pegula’s character.

There were a lot of concerns during the tournament about things like the court, the wind, the rain. None of that fazed Jessica. She just did what she always does: hunkered down and kept hitting those hard, flat groundstrokes that have now made her a Top 10 mainstay. In Cancun, Pegula beat four Top 10 players—including world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and US Open champion Coco Gauff—to reach the final. To think that as recently as the end of 2020, Jessica was ranked 62nd in the world. She really is the classic case of a late-bloomer.

This is someone who just loves to compete. Jessica played 125 matches this year: 77 in singles, 48 in doubles. Best of all, you get a first-rate effort and true sense of her every time she plays.—Tracy Austin, Hall of Famer and former No. 1

The Voters' Thoughts

👉 Ten voters from the TENNIS.com editorial team each selected five players for our 2023 WTA Player of the Year vote. Each voters' first-place selection was worth 5 points, second-place vote 4 points, and so forth. Selected commentary from voters will be included in each 2023 WTA Player of the Year write-up.

Showing great intelligence, deceptive power and model consistency, Pegula played 77 singles matches (second only to Iga Swiatek’s 79) and won 59 of them to insert herself into the conversation at the top of the game. She also bagged the No. 1 ranking in doubles in September.—Peter Bodo

“Cotton Eye Jess” continued to exceed expectations in 2023, converting her no-nonsense approach to tennis into her best season yet, with a second WTA 1000 title and runner-up finish at the WTA Finals. The question remains whether the American can keep her chill when it counts the most and break her quarterfinal duck at major tournaments (now 0-6).—David Kane

The American won her second WTA 1000 trophy in Montreal, had an emotional triumph in Seoul and made her first final at the WTA Finals, but Pegula was a part of the conversation long before her second-half surge. Also a finalist in Doha and Tokyo, once again Pegula appears to be right on the brink of a breakthrough.—Stephanie Livaudais

Like “13 Seconds,” she may rue her inability to close out Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon quarters forever (Pegula led the third set 4-1, and a break point for a 5-1). Still, the Buffalonian doubled her title total in 2023 and made the final at the WTA Finals—after failing to win a set at the event in 2022—giving her some rewards for her labor-intensive approach.—Ed McGrogan