Archive of posts tagged Pegula

Anastasija Sevastova drops bombshell after upsetting Jessica Pegula in Montreal

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Anastasija

Former world No. 11 Anastasija Sevastova admitted she "did not even think" about beating Jessica Pegula after falling behind early, before also hinting at retiring in the next couple of weeks.

In case you missed it, Sevastova – who is ranked at No. 386 in the world and entered Montreal using a protected ranking – pulled off a stunning comeback and upset on Monday when she took out defending champion Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-1. The start of the match went as expected as the third-seeded American was firmly 6-3 2-0 up. But then out of nowhere, the Latvian former world No. 11 won 12 of the next 14 games and progressed into the Montreal round-of-16. 

“It’s a bit surreal. I didn’t think about winning all the match. I was just so — I’d like to stay as long as possible on court. In the third set, I think I really played great tennis. I didn’t do any mistakes, and I just put her in bad positions so she has to do a lot of things she doesn’t like. And yeah, at the end, somehow I won," Sevastova reflected.

Sevastova hints at retiring after the US Open

In early 2024, the Latvian four-time WTA champion tore her ACL. After not playing for 13 months, the 35-year-old kicked off her post-surgery comeback in April.

Prior to coming in Montreal, Sevastova had been 5-7 in 2025. And while she is in the midst of a great run at the Canadian Open, she may not play beyond the US Open.

“It’s a bit different now because I come with zero expectations. I mean, I don’t have any good ranking and I’m not going to play every week. I don’t know if I’m going to play after US Open. Depends, maybe I’ll play if I still have fun, maybe not," the 35-year-old admitted.

Meanwhile, Sevastova plays against Naomi Osaka in her next Montreal match.

“It Hasn’t Been Great” – Pegula Bothered by ‘Sloppy” Tennis

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It’s just about time for Jessica Pegula to return to the scene of her first major final. The World No.4 would like to head to the 2025 US Open with a little wind beneath her wings, but at the moment she can’t seem to get her feet off the ground.

The Buffalo native produced another head-scratching effort against 386-ranked Anastasija Sevastova on Friday in Montreal, dropping 12 of the final 15 games to make it just one win in four matches since the start of Wimbledon.

“It hasn’t been great, to be honest. I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis.”

— Jessica Pegula

Pegula was the two-time defending champion in Canada this week, but could not summon the confidence that took her to titles in Montreal in 2023 and Toronto last year.

For Pegula, who played and lost the final to Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open last year, it simply isn’t good enough.

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Tennis Express player gear

“It hasn’t been great, to be honest,” the 31-year-old said on Friday in Montreal. “I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don’t like. It really bothers me. I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I don’t like having to say that.

“I feel like I’ve gone through phases in my career, a few tournaments, where I feel like that sometimes, and you have to figure out how to get out of it and not feel sorry for yourself or make excuses. I’ve got figure it out.”

Pegula still has time to right the ship. She’ll head to the Cincinnati Open next week, hoping to build momentum ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year.

She believes she needs to be a better problem solver, starting now.

“You have to do it in those moments in matches where you’re in that moment where you have to compete and figure things out,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve been able to do it great the last couple of matches, so hopefully going into Cincy I think that’s definitely going to be my main focus every single match is focusing on those big points and those big games because I do think I am playing some good tennis to get up in these matches, and there’s times where I’m reeling off six, seven really good games, and then it kind of falls away.

“So I’ve got to figure out how to kind of sustain that higher level against these good players.”

Struggling Jessica Pegula voices frustration, rips her tennis as 'sloppy'

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Anastasija Sevastova

Jessica Pegula admits she feels her tennis has been "sloppy" lately and isn't hiding that she is "bothered" by her results. 

In late June, the American tennis star captured her third title of the year after beating Iga Swiatek in the Bad Homburg final. Since then, the world No. 4 has stunningly gone 1-3. 

After picking up shock first-round losses at Wimbledon (Elisabetta Cocciaretto) and Washington (Leylah Fernandez), Pegula snapped her mini losing streak at the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal by beating Maria Sakkari after a first-round bye. In the Montreal third round, the American was 6-3 2-0 up against Anastasija Sevastova. But then, she inexplicably shut down and world No. 386 Sevastova stormed back to win 3-6 6-3 6-1. 

Pegula: My tennis has been kind of sloppy… I don't like it and it bothers me

“It hasn’t been great, to be honest. I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don’t like. It really bothers me. You have to figure out how to get out of it and not feel sorry for yourself or make excuses. I’ve got figure it out. I feel like I felt pretty confident knowing I like playing here. I’ve always had good results here. … Did I win DC coming into here? No, but at the same time I’ve won tournaments and lost first round. Nothing in tennis makes sense sometimes," the world No. 4 said. 

While Pegula is set to lose a good chunk of points by not defending her Montreal title, she will still stay at No. 4 after the tournament. However, that's not the end of troubles for the 31-year-old since she still has a good chunk of points to defend in the rest of the North American hard-court swing – she reached the finals of the US Open and Cincinnati last year.

Unless Pegula quickly figures out something, her North American hard-court swing could turn into a complete disaster.

Sevastova Stuns Two-Time Defending Champion Pegula in Montreal

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Anastasija Sevastova flipped the script and bounced two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula from the draw on Friday in Montreal, the new mother notching her first Top-10 win since 2020, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The victory is Sevastova’s first Top-5 win since she defeated then-third-ranked Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals at the 2018 US Open.

The 386-ranked Latvian is appearing in Montreal for the first time since 2021 due to maternity leave and an ACL tear to her left knee early in her comeback.

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Today the 35-year-old rallied back for her second career win over Pegula, winning 12 of the final 15 games to book her spot in the round of 16 alongside Naomi Osaka.

Earlier on Friday Osaka raced past Jelena Ostapenko, 6-2, 6-4.

“It was tough in the first set,” the former World No.11 said. “I didn’t think I played that great. I was down 2-0 in the second set and I started playing better and better. In the third set I played really well.

“Mentally just finding my game in the second set, just trying to stay on court as long as possible, and fighting for every point.”

Pegula, ranked fourth, has now lost three of four since the start of Wimbledon. She drops to 36-14 on the year.

Wimbledon | Preview – Whose year is this? Sabalenka, Gauff, Pegula or dark horse Swiatek?

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The draw for the Ladies Singles Championships was made on Friday, including direct entries, wild-cards and qualifiers, all 128 of them, who now know who they must face to advance from Monday onwards, if they are to stay in the running to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish on Saturday 12 July.   

The post Wimbledon | Preview – Whose year is this? Sabalenka, Gauff, Pegula or dark horse Swiatek? appeared first on Tennis Threads Magazine.