Jessica Pegula shares how the conditions at the Australian Open affected her in defeat to Elena Rybakina

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Jessica Pegula fell short in her maiden Australian Open semifinal appearance.

The American fought hard till the very last point, but lost in straight sets, 3-6, 6-7 [7-9] to Elena Rybakina.

Pegula saved several match points before succumbing to the Kazakh’s power.

She was understandably disappointed after the match, having missed out on another chance to win a Grand Slam title.

During her post-match press conference, Pegula shared what went wrong for her in defeat to Rybakina.

Jessica Pegula says slow courts are the bane of her existence

“I have been playing every match during the day. It’s playing much hotter, much faster. Getting out there, it was a nice night, cool, but slow, very slow. It took me a while to get my feet under me,” she said.

“I think my timing was really off for a while, and it’s hard against someone that hits as big as she does. I felt like she adapted a little bit quicker and was hitting that big, heavy ball at me, and I felt like I was just off, making a lot of errors, not really staying through my shots as well as I could have.

Jessica Pegula at the 2026 Australian Open

“Then, at the end, I think I finally started to find my timing a bit and play a lot better. So, yeah, I mean, I feel like the conditions for sure [played a role].

“It’s tough when you play in those conditions against a girl that hits big, you know, because you always feel on edge, like they’re going to hit a bunch of winners or hit a bunch of aces, in her case.

“I think I was just a little erratic in the beginning, kind of maybe overthinking it a little bit too, and not just trusting the things that I had been doing as well. But, you know, the conditions definitely make it tougher, and I just didn’t adapt as quickly as I needed to.”

Pegula then looked back on her defeat to Olga Danilovic at last year’s Australian Open, which took place during the night session.

Jessica Pegula at the 2025 Australian Open

“Yeah, it’s kind of the bane of my existence, these slow courts,” she said.

“When it’s a heavy ball, slower court, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just I think I’m a lot better on a faster surface.

“Obviously, maybe I wish I had one extra day. I could have hit at night or at least hit that late where I could get used to it better, but I did that last night, and we made that decision just to feel the tension. I ended up going a couple of pounds looser just to feel the tension, feel how the ball was coming off.

“So I did stay, and I think it helped me a little bit. I knew it was going to be different, and to win these tournaments, you have to be able to adapt to these different conditions at different times of the day, different courts.

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“I think I’ve gotten much better at that. I think there was improvement in that tonight.

“I do think I started playing better against someone who hits as big as she does on a slower court.

“I do think I did a better job of it tonight than maybe I would have a couple of years ago, so that’s promising, but still frustrating, I think, nonetheless.

“Yeah, just something I have to figure out.”

Pegula has a lot to work on, but how close is she to winning her first major title?

Jessica Pegula’s recent record at Grand Slams

The 31-year-old is one of the sport’s great late bloomers.

At 26, Pegula had only won one Grand Slam match.

Five years on, she’s been to a major final, two semifinals, and six quarterfinals.

Jessica Pegula’s Grand Slam breakdown

• F – 1
• SF – 2
• QF – 6
• 4R – 2
• 3R – 5
• 2R – 4
• 1R – 7
• Q3 – 3
• Q2 – 5
• Q1 – 4

She’s still lacking the firepower to take down the very best in women’s tennis, though.

Whether she can find that extra gear before the end of her career remains to be seen.

Pegula is set to return to tennis at the Qatar Open, which begins on Monday, February 9.