Jessica Pegula has enjoyed some positive moments over the last two years on the WTA Tour.
The American is once again on the back of a successful US Open campaign, where she reached the semifinal before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
Pegula posted a funny message after losing to Sabalenka in a repeat of the Flushing Meadows final from 12 months ago, which she also lost.
It does seem as though Pegula feels she is getting closer to winning a Grand Slam title, although it does feel like 2026 might be the last chance saloon for those aspirations.
Jessica Pegula needs to win a Grand Slam title soon
Last year’s US Open defeat was the closest that Pegula has come to winning a major title.
Pegula suggested that she’d made some changes to her game at this year’s event, and her semi-final defeat to Sabalenka was one of the best matches of the US Open.
It’s often been a case of so near yet so far for Pegula, with inconsistencies robbing her of a Grand Slam.
Clearly, the hard surfaces in Melbourne and New York are her best chances, with three Australian Open quarterfinals secured as well as a quarterfinal, semifinal and final in the United States.
Pegula has lost seven times in first-round matches at Grand Slams, though and for a player so talented, that simply won’t do.
With the US Open once again offering a deep run to the latter stages of the tournament for Pegula, 2026 does feel like the year when the American has to get over the line and win a big one.
Grand Slam history isn’t on the side of Jessica Pegula
Pegula is 31 right now, and shortly after the next Australian Open, she will turn 32.
As a result, she is already pushing the age for the oldest winner of a maiden Grand Slam title.
Flavia Pennetta holds that accolade, winning the US Open in 2015 to claim her one and only major title on the WTA Tour.
She was 33 years and 199 days when she got over the line for the first time with Pegula already older than Francesca Schiavone, who is second on the list after winning the French Open aged 29 years and 346 days.
With those stats simply now in her favour, the size of her challenge to win a Grand Slam is abundantly clear.
Pegula is a very likeable player on the tour, however, and lots will be rooting for her to etch her name on the list among the oldest first-time winners of a Grand Slam in the near future.
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