Jessica Pegula advanced to the fourth round of Wimbledon with another straight-set victory.
The American, yet to drop a set in her campaign so far, defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-1, 6-3.
Pegula is now one win away from matching her best result at Wimbledon; a quarterfinal finish, which she managed in 2023.
Serena Williams remains the last US player to hoist a singles title at the All England Club, doing so at the 2016 edition of the tournament.
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On the men’s side, the drought is 26 years long, with Pete Sampras being the last American ATP star to go all the way at Wimbledon.
Following her latest win, Pegula was asked why she thinks her compatriots haven’t ‘mastered’ the surface in recent seasons.
Jessica Pegula addresses American drought at Wimbledon
She replied: “Well, I think it’s been hard to master for everybody, honestly, besides who, like, Serena, Carlos, Jannik, then the women’s side we’ve seen a lot of different winners.
“I don’t know if it’s just that we haven’t mastered it. I think we’re all very good on grass. We’ve all done very well in the lead-up tournaments. We’ve won a couple of ’em.
“I don’t know if it is that. It’s a hard surface to win on. It’s hard to feel your best, like, I think, especially on grass over a couple weeks.
“The weather, the conditions, everything can change so much. There’s different matchups that work better than others. I mean, the guys’ side, I think, it’s pretty obvious why that’s been really tough. The women’s side, though, I think, yeah, Amanda made the finals last year.
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“I know Coco doesn’t necessarily have her best results here, but I think she’s always dangerous when she’s serving well and moving well on this surface and can kind of work her way into the tournament, which I think she has had just a couple tough draws.
“Myself included. I think Iva has shown she’s good on grass. There’s so many of us.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s that we haven’t figured it out. I think it’s just a tough surface in general to win on. I think that’s for everybody.”
Jessica Pegula discusses playing Iva Jovic next at Wimbledon
Pegula will take on Iva Jovic next, whom she has beaten in both of their two tour-level meetings.
“I think she’s solidified herself for sure as a top-20 player,” said Pegula of the 18-year-old star.
“I think she can definitely go higher than that. Seems like she’s just getting more and more confident, I feel like, as she plays more matches.
“She’s tough. Really good competitor. Does everything really well. I’m not surprised she’s pretty good on grass.
“I saw, yeah, she was in a tough match right before I came in here. It was going to be close.
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve had some close matches already on a couple different surfaces. Never played or practiced with her on grass, so that will be interesting.
“Excited again to challenge myself against someone who is much younger who is playing with nothing to lose and no fear. I know she’s going to come after me hard. I’ll use that as motivation and try to be ready for as much as I can.”
Jovic, ranked 16th in the world currently, has already guaranteed her best-ever Wimbledon result, and will now look to match her best Grand Slam (a quarterfinal finish at the 2026 Australian Open ) result by reaching the last eight.
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