Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings in singles of world No. 3, achieved in October 2022, and in doubles of world No. 1, set in September 2023. Pegula was a finalist at the 2024 US Open and at the 2023 WTA Finals. In doubles, she reached the final of the 2022 French Open, partnering with Coco Gauff, and the mixed doubles final of the 2023 US Open with Austin Krajicek.
Pegula has won nine singles titles and seven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including three WTA 1000 titles in singles and two in doubles. She is a three-time Grand Slam singles semifinalist, and has reached a total of nine Grand Slam singles quarterfinals across all four major tournaments. Representing her country, Pegula led the US team to victory in the inaugural 2023 United Cup, and to the final of the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup.
Early life
Pegula was born February 24, 1994 in Buffalo, New York, to petroleum billionaire and professional sports teams owner Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula. The family has a net worth of over $7.5 billion. She is of part Korean descent, as her mother was born in Seoul. Pegula has four siblings, two of whom are from her father's first marriage. Pegula started playing tennis at age seven.Career
2011–2012: Major third round in doubles
On August 30, 2011, Pegula was granted a wildcard into the main draw of the US Open doubles tournament, where she was paired with Taylor Townsend. They eventually lost in the third round to the third-seeded team of Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. In March 2012, Pegula was handed a wildcard to the qualifying draw in Indian Wells and surprised higher ranked players Bojana Jovanovski and Paula Ormaechea to qualify for the main draw where she lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková in three sets.2015: Major singles debut, first win
Pegula made her major singles debut at the US Open as a qualifier. She defeated Shuko Aoyama, Margarita Gasparyan, and Melanie Oudin to reach the main draw, where she beat Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round. In the second, Pegula was defeated by Dominika Cibulková in three sets.2018: First WTA Tour final, top 125
In 2018, Pegula reached her first WTA Tour singles final at the Tournoi de Québec in September as a qualifier. She beat Kristýna Plíšková, Ons Jabeur, second seed Petra Martić and fifth seed Sofia Kenin en route to the final, where she lost to eighth seed Pauline Parmentier in straight sets. This brought her ranking back inside the top 200 and helped her finish the year inside the top 125.2019: First WTA Tour title and top 100
Pegula began the year playing primarily on the ITF Circuit, before cracking inside the top 100 in February for the first time in her career. This allowed her to enter several larger WTA Tour events, including in Indian Wells and Miami. Her best result during the early clay court season came in Charleston, where she upset world No. 12, Anastasija Sevastova, en route to the third round. This helped her break inside the top 75 for the first time. She also competed in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament other than the US Open for the first time. She was defeated in the first round of the French Open by eventual champion Ashleigh Barty, before falling in the same stage at Wimbledon to Mihaela Buzărnescu.Pegula achieved the best result of her career at the start of the North American hardcourt season when she won her first career singles title at the Washington Open, defeating Camila Giorgi in the final. This took her to a new career-high ranking of world No. 55. Despite failing to win another main-draw match the rest of the season, Pegula finished the year ranked inside the top 100 for the first time, at No. 76.
2020: Auckland Open final
Pegula started her 2020 tennis season at the Auckland Open where she defeated CiCi Bellis in the first round. She followed this up with two more straight-set victories over Tamara Zidanšek and Alizé Cornet to reach the semifinals. There she beat Caroline Wozniacki in three sets to advance to her third Tour singles final. Facing off against 23-time Grand Slam singles winner Serena Williams for the first time, Pegula lost in straight sets. She then competed at the Australian Open for the first time, where she was defeated by another American, Taylor Townsend, in straight sets in the first round.Pegula's next big triumph came at the Cincinnati Open, a Premier 5 tournament. Having already beaten two Russians to qualify for the main draw, she opened her campaign with a straight-sets win over American Jennifer Brady followed by a win over another fellow American, 2019 French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova. She then caused a huge upset by defeating fifth seed and world No. 11, Aryna Sabalenka, in the third round, thus advancing to her first quarterfinal at any WTA Premier level event. Her run came to an end with a straight-sets loss to 14th seed Elise Mertens.
At the US Open, Pegula recovered from a set down to record her first Grand Slam main-draw win since the 2015 US Open, defeating Marie Bouzková in a third-set tiebreak. She then beat Kirsten Flipkens to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time, where she lost to sixth seed and former world No. 2, Petra Kvitová.
2021: Major quarterfinal, top 20
Pegula attained success at the Australian Open, defeating former Australian Open champion and 12th seed Victoria Azarenka, Kristina Mladenovic, former US Open champion Samantha Stosur and fifth seed Elina Svitolina to reach her first major quarterfinal where she lost to eventual runner-up, Jennifer Brady, despite winning the first set. This strong showing allowed Pegula to enter top 50 for the first time, and took her to a new career-high ranking of No. 43 in the world.Later in April, she achieved another career-high of No. 32, after reaching the semifinals at the Qatar Ladies Open as a qualifier where she lost to the eventual champion, Petra Kvitová, and a fourth-round run as a seeded player at the Miami Open, losing to Maria Sakkari in a tight three-set match. Her third-round win over Karolína Plíšková in Miami was the third win in a row in three tournaments over the same player.
In May, at the Italian Open, where she participated for the first time, she recorded the biggest victory of her career over world No. 2, Naomi Osaka, in the second round. This was her fifth top-ten win in 2021. She next prevailed over Ekaterina Alexandrova to set up a quarterfinal match with Petra Martić. Thanks to this great showing at her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal in 2021, after the one at Dubai, she entered top 30 for the first time.
At the French Open, she reached the third round for the first time in her career where she lost to fourth seed Sofia Kenin. At the German Open in Berlin, Pegula reached the quarterfinals defeating for the fourth time Karolína Plíšková in their fourth in a row meeting in 2021.
She reached her third WTA 1000 quarterfinal of 2021 at the Canadian Open edition in Montreal, defeating compatriot Danielle Collins in a close three set match needing six match points to win in a thrilling finish. She then made her first WTA 1000 semifinal and second semifinal for the season, defeating 13th seed Ons Jabeur in 88 minutes.
At the US Open, she finished in round three for a second consecutive year. At Indian Wells, she reached her fourth WTA 1000 quarterfinal, defeating world No. 7 and fourth seed, Elina Svitolina, before losing to former two-time champion Victoria Azarenka.
2022: First WTA 1000 title, world No. 3 in singles
Pegula started her season in Melbourne where she lost to Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round of the singles tournament but won her first career doubles title with Asia Muhammad, beating former doubles world No. 1, Sara Errani, and Jasmine Paolini in the final. In Sydney, she lost to Caroline Garcia in the first round.At the Australian Open, she defeated Anhelina Kalinina, Bernarda Pera, Nuria Párrizas Díaz and fifth seed Maria Sakkari to book her second consecutive quarterfinal at this major. She lost the quarterfinal match to world No. 1 and eventual champion, Ash Barty, but moved to highest rankings in singles and doubles on January 31, 2022.
In Doha, she won her second doubles title with Coco Gauff, defeating third seeds Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova in the final. As a result, she set No. 29 in doubles on February 28, 2022.
At the Miami Open, she reached her second WTA 1000 semifinal of her career after two back-to-back retirements, Kalinina in round of 16, and Paula Badosa in the first set of the quarterfinal. In the semifinals, she lost to the eventual champion and upcoming No. 1, Iga Świątek, in straight sets.
Her seventh WTA 1000 quarterfinal came at the Madrid Open by defeating Bianca Andreescu in straight sets. She reached her third semifinal at the WTA 1000-level and second straight for the season defeating first time Madrid quarterfinalist Sara Sorribes Tormo. Next, she defeated Jil Teichmann for her first WTA 1000 final and become the third American to do so, after Venus Williams and Serena Williams in Madrid, where she lost to Ons Jabeur in three sets. As a result, she improved her career-high to No. 11 on May 9. Pegula reached the third round of the Italian Open as well, but lost to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.
Seeded 11th at the French Open, Pegula advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time at this major, defeating former world No. 12, Wang Qiang, Anhelina Kalinina, 2021 French Open semifinalist and 24th seed Tamara Zidanšek, and Irina-Camelia Begu. She lost to top seed and eventual champion, Iga Świątek, in the quarterfinals. As a result, she broke into the top 10 in the singles rankings for the first time, at world No. 8, on June 6, 2022. She also entered her first major final in doubles, partnering with Gauff. As a result, she reached the top 15 in the doubles rankings. Seeded eighth at Wimbledon, she advanced to the third round for the first time, before losing to Petra Martić in straight sets. Following Wimbledon, she set a new career-high of world No. 7 on July 18, 2022, becoming the American number-one-player, one spot ahead of Danielle Collins.
As a top-seeded pair, partnering Erin Routliffe, she won her third doubles title at the Washington Open defeating fourth seeds Caty McNally and Anna Kalinskaya.
Seeded seventh at the Canadian Open, she reached back-to-back semifinals in singles, for the fourth time at the WTA 1000-level in her career and third for the season, defeating defending champion Camila Giorgi and Yulia Putintseva, before losing to Simona Halep. Seeded third in doubles at the same tournament, she also reached the semifinals with Gauff defeating fifth seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs. They defeated Madison Keys / Sania Mirza in the semifinals and Nicole Melichar / Ellen Perez in the final to win their second WTA 1000 title together. As a result, Pegula reached top 10 in the doubles rankings, at world No. 8.
At the Cincinnati Open, she reached back-to-back quarterfinals defeating tenth seed Emma Raducanu, her fourth WTA 1000 quarterfinal of the season.
Seeded eighth at the US Open, she reached the fourth round, defeating Viktorija Golubic, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and qualifier Yuan Yue. Next she defeated 21st seed Petra Kvitová to reach her first quarterfinal at her home Grand Slam championship and the third major quarterfinal of the season, where she lost to world No. 1 Świątek for the third time this year. Despite the result, she moved to world No. 5, on September 12, 2022. On October 13 and 14, 2022, she qualified for the 2022 WTA Finals in singles and doubles with Gauff, respectively, becoming the first American to qualify for the WTA Finals since Sloane Stephens in 2018 and the first American to qualify in both singles in doubles since Serena and Venus Williams in 2009. At the San Diego Open, Pegula lost to Świątek in a US Open rematch in the semifinals, but won the doubles title with Gauff, their third title of the season together and Pegula's fifth doubles title overall. As a result, she reached a new career-high doubles ranking of No. 4, on October 17, 2022.
At the Guadalajara Open, she reached her second final at the WTA 1000 level defeating four former Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina, Bianca Andreescu, and Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals, and Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. She defeated fourth seed Maria Sakkari in straight sets to win the second and biggest singles title of her career, becoming the first American woman to win a WTA 1000 title since Madison Keys in 2019. At the same tournament, she also reached the quarterfinals in doubles with Gauff. As a result, she achieved new career-high rankings of world No. 3, in singles and in doubles, on October 24, 2022.
On her debut at the WTA Finals, Pegula lost all her matches of the group stage, winning only one set in three matches. At the same tournament, she and partner Gauff surprisingly failed to win a single match and also finished last in the round-robin stage of doubles. Nonetheless, she finished her best season to date ranked No. 3 in singles and No. 6 in doubles, one of only three women to finish inside the top 10 in both disciplines.