Jessica Pegula’s tennis is built like good infrastructure. It rarely collapses, it rarely dazzles, and it almost always gets you where you need to go. That was 2025 in a nutshell: a season of heavy mileage, repeatable patterns, and enough deep runs to keep her in the elite conversation — plus two titles that proved her baseline authority still pays in trophies.
And yet the question never moved. Against the very biggest hitters, in the very biggest moments, does she have the extra gear? Pegula spent the year circling that answer.
January: Adelaide Form, Melbourne Shock
Adelaide began smoothly. Pegula handled Maria Sakkari (6-4, 6-1) and Ashlyn Krueger (6-4, 2-0 ret.), then edged Yulia Putintseva (7-6, 6-3) in a semifinal that demanded patience.
The final brought an early season sting.
She lost the Adelaide final to Madison Keys 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, with the decider running away once her second-serve numbers sagged.
Melbourne was worse, because it ended almost as soon as it began. Pegula opened the Australian Open by dismissing Maya Joint 6-3, 6-0 and backing it up with a solid 6-4, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens. Then the rhythm vanished. Olga Danilovic edged the first-set tiebreak and ran away with the match 7-6(3), 6-1. Pegula never found the tempo, and the loss felt like a rare glitch in a system that usually refuses to break.
February: Doha Spark, Dubai Slip, Austin Pays
Doha looked promising. She beat Elina Svitolina (6-3, 7-6) and Daria Kasatkina (6-3, 7-5), then got blown off course by Ekaterina Alexandrova (4-6, 6-1, 6-1). It was a familiar Pegula problem: she can absorb pace, but she can’t always stop it.
Dubai was a quick frustration. She beat Liudmila Samsonova (6-0, 6-4), then got edged by Linda Noskova (6-3, 7-6) without converting a break point.
Austin was the reset — and the reward.
Austin Title Run
R32: def. Arantxa Rus 6-3, 3-2 ret.
R16: def. Nuria Parrizas Diaz 6-1, 6-3
QF: def. Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-2
SF: def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Final: def. McCartney Kessler 7-5, 6-2
It was Pegula tennis at its cleanest: first-serve points won high, patterns clear, rallies owned. Jessica Pegula was back, ranked No. 4 in the world.
March: Miami Gave Her a Run — and a Reminder
Indian Wells began well with wins over Magda Linette (6-4, 6-2) and Xin Yu Wang (6-2, 6-1), then ended with a three-set loss to Svitolina (5-7, 6-1, 6-2). Pegula had the first set. She got missing in the last two.
Miami, though, was heavyweight work. She survived Anna Kalinskaya in two tiebreaks, handled Marta Kostyuk, and fought through Emma Raducanu in three sets. The semifinal against Alexandra Eala was pure grind, and Pegula’s break-point resistance kept her afloat.
Miami Final Run
R64: def. Bernarda Pera 6-4, 6-4
R32: def. Anna Kalinskaya 6-7, 6-2, 7-6
R16: def. Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3
QF: def. Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
SF: def. Alexandra Eala 7-6, 5-7, 6-3
Final: lost to Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2
The final was the reminder. Pegula won just 23.5% of second-serve points. Against Sabalenka, that’s basically a confession.
Clay: Charleston Trophy, Europe’s Slips, Paris Sting
Charleston rewarded her resilience. She dropped the first set 1-6 to Danielle Collins, then flipped the whole match. The semifinal against Alexandrova was a bruiser, with Pegula saving 15 of 21 break points.
Charleston Title Run
R32: def. Iryna Shymanovich 6-0, 6-3
R16: def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2
QF: def. Danielle Collins 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
SF: def. Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
Final: def. Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5
Europe was choppier. Alexandrova routed her in Stuttgart (6-0, 6-4). Moyuka Uchijima caught her in Madrid (6-3, 6-2). Rome ended with a flat loss to Elise Mertens (7-5, 6-1), and Pegula failed to win a break point there.
Roland Garros began with control and ended in erosion. Pegula moved through Anca Alexia Todoni and Ann Li without panic, holding serve comfortably and keeping first-serve points won above 70% in both matches.
The third round against Marketa Vondrousova demanded adjustment, and she delivered it, dropping the opening set before tightening patterns and winning the final two 6-4, 6-2.
But the fourth round against wildcard Lois Boisson told the familiar story. Pegula won the first set, then watched the margins shrink as the rallies lengthened and the return games slipped away. She didn’t implode. She simply couldn’t stop the match sliding once it tightened, losing 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 as control gave way to attrition.
Grass and Summer: A Few Punchlines She Didn’t Like
Berlin was heartbreaking. Pegula had match points against Samsonova and still lost (6-7(8), 7-5, 7-6(5)). Bad Homburg was better, and she turned back Emma Navarro and Linda Noskova before beating Iga Swiatek (6-4, 7-5) in the final. That was a proper title, not a gift.
Pegula served cleanly and took the initiative when it mattered.
Wimbledon was brutal. Elisabetta Cocciaretto dismissed her (6-2, 6-3) in under an hour. That sort of loss hangs around. And it did.
The U.S. summer never quite steadied. Leylah Fernandez knocked her out in Washington. Montreal ended with Sevastova turning the match (3-6, 6-4, 6-1). Cincinnati slipped against Linette in three sets.
New York and Autumn: Close to the Summit, Not On It
The US Open finally gave Pegula the stage her season had been circling. After months of solid runs and near-misses, New York felt like a chance to turn consistency into something louder.
She played with authority through the first week, serving cleanly, returning early, and keeping points on her terms.
The draw opened, but Pegula did the work, moving through it without the hesitation that had crept into earlier majors. By the time the second week arrived, she looked settled, dangerous, and close.
US Open 2025 Results
R128: def. Mayar Sherif 6-0, 6-4
R64: def. Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3
R32: def. Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 7-5
R16: def. Ann Li 6-1, 6-2
QF: def. Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-3
SF: lost to Aryna Sabalenka 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
She got a set. She got a lead. She didn’t get the match.
BJK Cup Finals were rough, with losses to Paolini and Rybakina offset by a win over Katie Boulter.
Beijing brought another deep run before Noskova edged her in a deciding-set tiebreak.
Wuhan was her best late-season tennis, including a brilliant comeback against Sabalenka (2-6, 6-4, 7-6(2)).
The Wuhan final was close on the surface and revealing underneath. Pegula stayed competitive throughout, but the numbers tilted the wrong way when it mattered most.
She landed just 50% of first serves, and while she won a respectable share of those points, the second serve sat up too often against Gauff’s return pressure. Pegula created chances but converted only two of eight break points, while Gauff was sharper in the key games.
The 6-4, 7-5 scoreline reflected a match decided not by momentum swings, but by marginal execution under pressure.
Riyadh summed up the year. Pegula beat Gauff and Paolini, then lost to Sabalenka and Rybakina. That’s the tier line.
Jessica Pegula Assessment
Pegula’s floor remains elite. She won titles in Austin and Charleston, reached the Miami final, and beat Swiatek in a grass-court final at Bad Homburg. She also proved, again, that her game travels when conditions get messy, as it did against Raducanu and Eala in Miami.
What still limits her is point-ending authority at the very top. Finals losses to Sabalenka in Miami and a semifinal loss in New York followed the same theme. When second-serve pressure rises, Pegula’s neutral ball sits up a touch too often. Against the biggest weapons, that touch is fatal.
Final Verdict B+
Pegula’s 2025 was a season of substance. Two titles, multiple finals, and consistent presence in the late rounds. That’s not trivial. That’s a career.
But the ceiling didn’t move much. She keeps meeting the same names at the top. She keeps needing one more gear to push past them. Avoid big bloopers in majors.
GPA: 3.4
And yet in 2025 there were long stretches in matches where Jessica Pegula was tracking down balls in the corners that she simply wouldn’t have reached two or three years ago. Pegula’s movement on court is still on an upward trend. If she puts together a strong Australian Open in 2026, she’ll be fully set to take another run at the top four.
Whatever happens, Jessica Pegula’s 2026 will be fascinating to watch.
Related WTA Articles You Might Enjoy
Raducanu’s 2025: A Year Played on the Border Between Comeback and Consequence
Kostyuk’s Raw, Relentless 2025 — A Season That Hit Harder Than the Ranking Shows