Jessica Pegula’s wait for a maiden Grand Slam title will continue after she bowed out of the Australian Open in the semifinals.
Pegula lost to Rybakina at Melbourne Park, falling in straight sets to the former Wimbledon champion, 6-3, 7-6.
Rybakina will now take on Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final; a rematch of the 2025 WTA Finals title bout.
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The American star has now lost in two consecutive Grand Slam semifinals, having exited last season’s US Open in the final four stage.
While Pegula continues to make deep runs at majors, the 31-year-old suggested there is a reason she keeps coming up short.
Jessica Pegula reacts to her semifinal exit at the Australian Open
In her post-match press conference, the world number six said: “I had an amazing tournament here. I played some really good tennis, beat a lot of really good players, put up a fight tonight, but obviously I want to win the tournament. That always sucks when you don’t.”
Pegula picked up big wins at the Australian Open, including a pair of statement victories over the defending champion Madison Keys, as well as fourth seed Amanda Anisimova.
- First Round – defeated Anastasia Zakharova
- Second Round – defeated McCartney Kessler
- Third Round – defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva
- Fourth Round – defeated Madison Keys
- Quarterfinals – defeated Amanda Anisimova
- Semifinals – lost to Elena Rybakina
She continued: “So I feel like, though, my experience over the last couple of years has really, I don’t know, made me feel a lot more comfortable at this stage.
“I made now two slam semifinals back to back, I think that’s really good, and put myself in these positions. I still feel like I’m getting better as a player.
“Honestly, it’s hard to really knock — of course I wanted to win tonight more than anything, and I wanted to win the tournament and give myself a chance, but at the same time, I have had some pretty amazing results over the last few years. I think I’m a top player.
“I think on hard court I’m maybe top three honestly, I think, in the world. That’s definitely a great achievement. The people that have stopped me the last couple of times went on to win the tournament or they’re in the finals.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s hard to really be down on things like that, because, I mean, it’s not like I’m sitting here losing to, you know, a girl ranked lower, and I missed my opportunity or, you know, I was supposed to win those matches or something like that.
“I just think I have definitely gotten a lot of confidence and kind of gained experience where I know I belong at this level. I know I can still beat these girls.
“I’m challenging them every single time I play them. So I just, yeah, have to figure out, you know, I don’t know, maybe being a little bit more brave in some moments or figuring out how to play better in these conditions against them or whatever it is.
“I’ll talk to my coaches, but it’s hard to say that I really want to change anything. I mean, I think I’m doing a pretty good job regardless of falling a little bit short sometimes.”
Jessica Pegula said she was ‘disappointed’ with her level
Pegula came close to turning the match around when she forced a second-set tiebreak and earned two set points.
Analysing the missed opportunity, Pegula said: “Obviously having set points, knowing that I was able to stay in there and kind of start turning the match at times and start playing a lot better towards the end, you know, just in time to give myself a chance, but yeah, that was tough tonight.
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“Honestly, I’m disappointed in my level. I felt like I didn’t play very well until maybe the very end, and even at the end it was still kind of shoddy. I missed a couple balls I had a lot of chances often.
“I felt like both of us were a little back and forth at times. She was just playing a little bit cleaner than I was.
“Yeah, I’m just kind of disappointed that I wasn’t able to bring a better level tonight.”
With her win, Rybakina took a 4-3 lead in the head-to-head with Pegula.
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