Jessica Pegula broke down in tears after reaching the second round of the US Open.
The World number six is feeling good about her chances of success at Flushing Meadows after retaining the Canadian Open title and reaching the Cincinnati Open final.
She is thrilled to be back on the hard courts and playing on home soil and is aiming for Grand Slam success for the first time.
But Pegula had an emotional start to her latest campaign in New York, which began by beating compatriot Shelby Rogers.
Why was Jessica Pegula crying after her first round win at the US Open?
Jessica Pegula began her 2024 US Open campaign against fellow American Shelby Rogers, who was retiring at the end of the tournament.
The 32-year-old started well by securing an early break of serve and was ahead 3-2, but Pegula soon adjusted to the slow and humid conditions inside Arthur Ashe stadium.
The sixth seed lost just four more games for the remainder of the match and secured a 6-4, 6-3 win which brought an end to Rogers’ career.
The pair embraced post-match and during her on-court interview, Pegula became emotional when talking about Rogers, who played junior tennis with. “I’m going to get emotional,” she said, wiping away tears.
“Congrats on a great career. I remember playing 16-and-unders Southerns with her, and now we’re here, and I think that’s so cool. We grew up playing juniors together, in the same section, and now we get to play a night match in Ashe and obviously she’s had some amazing wins here at the US Open.
“Have an amazing time I’m sure I’ll see you in Florida and we’ll take our dogs on more play dates and I’ll get to hang out with you and John. Congrats to you and your family and everyone that’s here and your team. I know you’ve been through a lot with injuries so I wish you all the best in the next chapter.”
Jessica Pegula is set to face another American player in US Open second round
Pegula will be up against another American player when she takes on Sofia Kenin in the US Open second round.
In a battle of former Grand Slam champions, Kenin defeated 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu in three sets to reach the next round.
Pegula was pleased she was able to deal with the challenges of being Rogers’ final opponent and is ready for a battle with Kenin.
“I knew, coming into this match, there was a lot of challenges and a lot of weird variables on my plate—playing an American, playing Shelby, knowing it could be her last match, coming in on a great couple of weeks and all of a sudden turning into one of the favorites when my year hasn’t been that great has been kind of crazy,” Pegula said.
“I’m happy I was able to deal with all that tonight and hopefully I can keep improving as the tournament goes on.”
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