WASHINGTON, D.C. — A dozen years ago, Jessica Pegula — ranked No. 143 in the world — lost her first main-draw match at the Citi Open. In her next visit in 2016, she made it to the semifinals.<\/p>\n
In 2019, with her ranking up to No. 79, Pegula scored the breakthrough of her career at the age of 25. She sprinted through the field — beating Katerina Siniakova, Iga Swiatek, Lauren Davis, qualifier Anna Kalinskaya and, in the final, Camila Giorgi to collect her first professional title at any level.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, getting that monkey off my back, being able to do it at a tour level for the first time, was great,\u201d Pegula told reporters on Sunday. \u201cThat was such a big mountain for me to climb at the time, and now I\u2019m sitting here and I have won, I don\u2019t know, eight or nine or whatever it is, and doubles titles, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny how things can seem far away, but once you do them it becomes easier, it\u2019s less of a mountain to get over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six years later, Pegula returns to the Mubadala Citi DC Open as the World No. 4 and the top seed. Thanks to a bye, she\u2019ll play a second-round match against Leylah Fernandez, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Maya Joint.<\/p>\n
By now, it\u2019s been established that North American hard courts are Pegula\u2019s happy place. A year ago, after losing her second match at the Paris Olympics, she did this:<\/p>\n
Won nine of 10 matches at the WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati, taking the title in Canada, and then advancing to her first Grand Slam final at the US Open. Although Pegula lost to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in both Cincinnati and New York, she went a searing 15-2 over that stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely my favorite part of the year,\u201d Pegula, now 31, explained. \u201cI feel like I always play some of my best tennis here. Just looking forward to it. It\u2019s gone by so fast. I can\u2019t believe we\u2019re already back here.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because the past several months have been a bit of a blur. For this year, Pegula started a little earlier. Back in March, she won the ATX Open in Austin, then followed it up with a run to the final at the Miami Open. Two WTA 500 titles, in Charleston and Bad Homburg, followed. Not only do Pegula and Sabalenka lead all Hologic WTA Tour players with three titles, but she did it on three different surfaces.<\/p>\n
In Bad Homburg, Pegula beat Emma Navarro and Linda Noskova in three-set matches, before drawing Swiatek in the final. Pegula defeated the four-time French Open champion 6-4, 7-5.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought our final was a really high level,\u201d Pegula said. \u201cIt was super close. She is always kind of down on herself about grass, and I was, like, \u2018Hey, you’re playing really good on grass.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it was kind of funny that she ended up winning Wimbledon. But that\u2019s just tennis for you. You kind of never know.\u201d<\/p>\n
To that point, three days after taking the title Pegula actually lost her first-round match at Wimbledon to Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ranked outside the Top 100. Pegula said she flushed that result away and got in two solid weeks of training at home in South Florida.<\/p>\n
And now she\u2019s looking forward to another big run in her sixth trip to the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still feel like I have those memories every time I come back,\u201d Pegula said. \u201cI know so many of the volunteers and the people that work this tournament, from the security to the transport, that have seen me and helped me over the last six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s been really cool, and I still have that same kind of feeling every time I come back here. That\u2019s why I always feel like I can play good tennis here and have some good results.\u201d<\/p>\n
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