Jessica Pegula relished her Grand Slam debut at the US Open despite defeat to last year’s runner-up Aryna Sabalenka.
As Jessica Pegula’s shot kissed the edge of the line to stop the score edging to 0-4 in the second set, it marked the start of a promised comeback.
Having trailed by a set and a break in her semi-final match against Czech Karolina Muchova, Pegula looked determined to repeat the miraculous turnaround in front of a booming US Open crowd.
A flustered Aryna Sabalenka lost five games on the bounce as the American went within a game of levelling things up.
After last year’s comeback heroics from Coco Gauff, Sabalenka however made sure history didn’t repeat itself and eventually came through 7-5, 7-5.
Jessica Pegula reveals what she thought of the US Open atmosphere
A packed out Arthur Ashe welcomed in a second consecutive female American finalist with a thundering reception.
Pegula, who’d never reached a Grand Slam semi-final a fortnight ago, was thrust into an electric 23,000 strong crowd.
Reflecting on the occasion she said: “Yeah I mean it was so loud when we walked out. I think with the roof being closed it felt even louder so it was a really cool atmosphere really cool experience and obviously I was trying to, at some point, take it all in but at the same time try and focus on the match in front of me.
“But there was definitely a couple moments where I tried to not rush and kind of stop myself a little bit and be able to appreciate that crowd noise because it was definitely super super loud,” the American told reporters in her post-match press conference.
“Then on the changeover I’m always looking up and I see all the celebrities it’s kind of hard not to because it’s literally like right in front of us but I was like ‘wow there’s definitely a lot of people here’ so I thought that was pretty cool and pretty amazing that got to play in front of them.”
Pegula previously said US Open crowd were behaving differently towards her and with an ever-exuberant response to her on Saturday, she remains a fan-favorite in New York.
Jessica Pegula should be proud of her US Open achievement
One the dust has settled, the immediate disappointment subsided, Pegula should be proud of her achievements.
Not only was her US Open campaign backed up a successful title defense in Toronto, Pegula also reached the final in Cincinnati, where she again lost to Sabalenka.
However, a convincing win for the Belarusian in the Mid-west didn’t come as easy in New York, with Pegula changing strategy and having clearly worked on her returns more to keep her in the point for longer.
With six of six defeats in quarter-finals before this year’s US Open, Pegula has broken her curse and played a key role in what was an extraordinary final.
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