Jessica Pegula has made a winning start to both her clay court season and Charleston Open title defence.
Pegula had a disappointing end to the Miami Open, where she reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles.
The American had a short turnaround to beginning her clay court season, returning to the Charleston Open, where Pegula won her first clay court title last year.
Pegula was forced to come from a set down to beat Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the first match of her title defence, but she actually believes that this may have boosted her French Open title chances.
Jessica Pegula happy to have played a three hour match on clay
Pegula took three hours and 10 minutes to beat Putintseva in a gruelling first singles match of her clay court season.
While she admitted this may not be ideal for her chances in her next match in Charleston, Pegula believes this could improve her prospects at the French Open.
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“You know what, actually I was really thinking about it and I am actually kind of glad,” Pegula said in her post-match press conference.
“Even though it’s not ideal maybe for tomorrow, I do feel that getting a three hour match – you are really breaking in the lungs. The aerobic and anaerobic fitness gets broken in quite a bit and I feel like if I can get through tomorrow it can set me up further down the line. I am not sure if it’s the best thing for tomorrow, but it is what it is.
“I think in the long term it’s a great way because I remember playing the French last year and I had a couple of really long matches on clay and I felt I was out of shape in a way because I hadn’t had a really long physical match like that and I don’t want to feel like that in a Slam.
“You want it to happen before that so if it’s a long match you feel fine. I was actually looking at it in a way that I hope that it sets me up this week and further down the clay court season.”
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What is Jessica Pegula’s best result at the French Open?
Pegula has a mixed record at the French Open, having won 65% of her matches at the clay court major.
The 32-year-old achieved her best result at the tournament in 2022, when Pegula reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
After missing the 2024 tournament through injury, Pegula suffered a surprise defeat to wildcard Lois Boisson in her return to Paris last year.
| Year | Jessica Pegula’s result at the French Open |
| 2019 | First Round |
| 2020 | First Round |
| 2021 | Third Round |
| 2022 | Quarterfinal |
| 2023 | Third Round |
| 2025 | Fourth Round |
Pegula will look to bounce back from her three-hour plus match when she plays Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who actually beat her at Wimbledon last year.
If Cocciaretto beats her again, then Pegula will have a few weeks off after deciding not to enter the upcoming WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart like many of her rivals.
Instead, Pegula is likely to just play tournaments in Madrid and Rome ahead of the French Open.
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