“If I can’t take confidence from this, there’s got to be something wrong” – Pegula reflects on US Open runner-up finish
The 30-year-old American reached her first Grand Slam final and will climb back to her career-high ranking of No 3 in the world on Monday
Jessica Pegula, US Open 2024 – © Andrew Schwartz/SIPA
Jessica Pegula was annoyed right after losing the US Open final. The 30-year-old American, playing in her first Grand Slam singles, went down fighting to Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 7-5 but had her chances during the contest which lasted for just under two hours.
“Super-tough match today. Obviously, I would love to be in a third set right now, but I guess relatively speaking, happy that I was able to at least get my chances to win a set, considering I was down in the first and in the second,” Pegula told the media after the final. “So was able to find some good tennis. Just wasn’t quite able to sustain it. Congrats to her. I think she played some big tennis in some big moments.”
“I’m just annoyed I lost right now. Everyone is like, Congrats, amazing tournament. I’m like, Eh, whatever. I think maybe once I decompress a little bit, I’m sure I will be a little bit more appreciative and see all of that. At some point. I should probably do that at some point. It’s been kind of a crazy couple of days, so hopefully I’ll get some time after this to kind of just relax and just, you know, look back at what I’ve been able to do the last month.”
Pegula will climb back to a career-high No 3 in the world rankings on Monday after an incredibly successful hardcourt stretch which saw her win the title in Toronto and then finish runner-up in Cincinnati to Sabalenka prior to her runner-up finish in her first Grand Slam final.
“There are things that are just in my head that I feel I should have done better and stuff like that. But as I said, I think that will pass in a little bit…
Jessica Pegula after losing the 2024 US Open final to Aryna Sabalenka
After being unable to win her first six Grand Slam quarter-finals, Pegula broke through this week to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final and then her first Major final in front of her home fans. Once the disappointment of Saturday’s loss wears off in a few days, she knows she will take a tremendous amount of confidence from this run.
“If I can’t take confidence from this, there’s got to be something wrong,” the six-time WTA Tour titlist said. “I think I’ve taken confidence from winning a 250, from winning a 1000, from being able to win another 1000. Multiple ones now. Then to be able to be a Grand Slam finalist, I think that was kind of the last thing for me, right, was I made a lot of quarter-finals but can I make a semi, can I be a contender to actually win a Grand Slam.””
“I think for sure I will take a lot of confidence from this in maybe like a hour or two, because like I said, I’m kind of annoyed. Not even annoyed losing the tournament. I think it’s more just I was looking at it at, like, I just wanted to win the match. Now there are things that are just in my head that I feel I should have done better and stuff like that. But like I said, I think that will pass in a little bit.”
