Jessica Pegula is looking to bounce back at the Canadian Open after being shocked in the American capital.
The world number three went into the Washington Open as the number one seed. However, she was stunned by eventual champion Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-final, losing in three sets.
The defending Canadian Open champion has had a difficult month on the WTA Tour. After the high of winning in Bad Homburg, Pegula was dumped out of Wimbledon in the first round before exiting early in Washington.
The Canadian Open has adopted an expanded format for this year’s event, which now has a 96-player main draw taking place over 12 days.
Pegula, who is one high-profile name not to have withdrawn from the event, offered her thoughts on the new format ahead of her first match in Canada.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty ImagesJessica Pegula says she is ‘not sure’ about the expanded format
Speaking at her pre-tournament press conference, Pegula said: “I kind of like it smaller. I kind of like when it’s quicker. I feel like you can just kind of go and, like, get it over with.
“I feel like sometimes when they’re really long, it can seem really long, especially leading up to a slam.
“But I’m interested. I think this format a little bit different. It’s not quite two weeks for each tournament, right? It’s like, 21 days, pushed together within 21 days.
“So I think it’s a little bit of a hybrid between what we’ve seen where, like, Madrid and Rome, or Indian Wells, Miami, and then obviously longer, though, than just having one week to finish everything. So I’m honestly just more interested to see how it kind of turns out and how it feels for the players and for the fans as well, because I think it’s kind of like meeting in the middle a little bit.
“I’m not a fan of when they’re like two weeks long. It’s just, it can get really tough. I feel like slams are two weeks and so now I’m turning everything almost like into a slam is really mentally draining.
“So I’m hoping that these two events feel like a good kind of middle ground, I guess I could say. So I’m not sure. It’s the first time we’ve done it, and I think we’re all going to have to get used to it, but I guess we’ll see how it goes.”
Jessica Pegula faces Maria Sakkari in the Canadian Open second round
Jessica Pegula faces a tough test in the second round of the Canadian Open. The third seed faces Maria Sakkari, who defeated Carson Branstine 6-2 3-6 7-5.
Sakkari, 30, is ranked 72 in the world. However, she reached as high as world number three in March 2022.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
The Greek player has also reached the semi-final stage at two Grand Slam tournaments. In 2021, she made the semi-finals at both the French Open and US Open.
Most recently, Sakkari reached the quarter-final stage of the Washington Open, before losing to Emma Raducanu in straight sets.