Serena Williams’ former coach says what Jessica Pegula ‘does not get enough credit for’ after winning the Charleston Open

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Jessica Pegula has quickly bounced back from her Miami final defeat with a title victory at the Charleston Open.

Pegula battled back to beat Sofia Kenin in difficult conditions, as she claimed the first WTA clay court title of her career.

After winning the Charleston Open, Pegula has achieved something Coco Gauff hasn’t and cemented her status in the history books by doing so.

While her final victory over Kenin was perhaps her most memorable, Pegula showed her fighting spirit throughout her run to the Charleston trophy.

Rick Macci says what Jessica Pegula does not get enough credit for

Pegula’s had to come back from losing positions in all of her final three matches in Charleston.

The 31-year-old lost eight of the first nine games in her quarter-final against Danielle Collins, and was a break down in the deciding set against semi-final opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova.

In the final, Pegula saved three set points and won six successive games to beat Kenin in straight sets.

This certainly did not go unnoticed, with Rick Macci, who is the former coach of the Serena and Venus Williams, picking up on this.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Macci praised Pegula for her mentality and suggested that he thinks it is an underrated skill of hers.

“She does not get enough credit for her calming skills. Her mind is the greatest strength of Jess Peg,” said Macci. “The Charleston Clay Court MASTER was digging out of holes that seemed a DISASTER but not for the cool calm and collected Buffalo BLASTER.”

This is not the only big claim that Macci has made about the Charleston Open champion in recent weeks, having predicted Pegula to overtake Coco Gauff in the WTA rankings.

After winning the clay court title that has now come true, with Pegula the world number three and American number one once again.

Where is Jessica Pegula playing next?

Despite reaching the latter stages of back-to-back tournaments at the Miami Open and Charleston Open, that is just the start of a busy schedule for Pegula.

First of all, Pegula is actually expected to switch back to hard courts for USA’s upcoming Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup Qualifier Ties in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The US Open finalist will then switch back to clay courts for the stacked WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, that also features Ons Jabeur returning to action after an injury scare.

Pegula will then play back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, before the second Grand Slam of the year at Roland Garros.

Pegula spoke about feeling fatigued prior to the Charleston Open final, so there is every chance that she may make adjustments to this schedule to protect her body.

This is especially relevant, after Pegula missed most of the clay court season last year including Roland Garros due to back and neck injuries.