Jessica Pegula is looking to overcome recent physical and mental obstacles at Roland Garros after advancing to the second round.
The American began her Roland Garros campaign in fairly comfortable fashion with a 6-4 6-2 victory over compatriot Danielle Collins.
Despite losing her serve on three occasions, Pegula overcame the former Australian Open finalist in straight sets to reach the second round where she will face Camila Giorgi.
Although the match may have been fairly straightforward, the last few weeks have been anything but easy.
As Pegula revealed in her post-match press conference the American has had to overcome mental and physical obstacles in the build-up to Roland Garros, “No, it’s definitely been tough. I think Rome was tough. Yeah, I had a little bit of a nagging injury in Madrid and Rome,” Pegula admitted.
“Then the two-week tournament. Then I got food poisoning last week. There’s been a lot of obstacles, I feel like, the last couple of weeks specifically that have been really tough physically and then taking their toll mentally because of that.
“So it hasn’t been easy, and I saw I have a really tough draw as well, now playing Giorgi, who did well here last year? Yeah. I don’t know. She does well here.
“It’s not easy, especially playing Danielle today I was just happy I was able to really, like, hunker down and focus. Because I don’t think I came in this week feeling my best or feeling the most prepared, but sometimes that happens.
“I’m glad I got through today. Like you said, it’s been a long few years of a lot of matches. I still feel good, but the last couple of weeks have been definitely interesting. The first time, too, playing Madrid and Rome two weeks and being American, we don’t really love being in Europe that much. So it’s definitely been different I think than last year.
“Yeah, I’m happy that I was able to kind of shift my perspective at least today and be able to play really great tennis. Hopefully now that I have two days off I can kind of take that into the next match.”
It’s clear that Pegula hasn’t had the ideal preparation heading into the second Grand Slam of the season as the American looks to establish herself as one of the main contenders.
Speaking of main contenders, Pegula was asked whether it bothers her that she’s not one of the main favourites to win the title in Paris alongside Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
The world number three said she’s unfazed and is just focusing on the task at hand, “They’ve earned that right,” Pegula claimed.
“They’ve been playing really solid tennis. Iga, we already know from last year. Aryna I felt like broke through in Australia as far as like winning a slam, but I think her results have always been up there. Then Elena at the end of last year as well.
“I mean, to see them being so consistent, I think they’ve earned that right. Obviously ranking-wise I’m still 3, but I’m sure that could change. I could go up or down, whatever. It depends on results.
“But, yeah, I think they’ve earned that title, and I think it’s nice to see three girls dominating. Hopefully I can be part of that conversation, but I think either way it’s still great for women’s tennis. Especially because everyone always talks about the inconsistency and all this stuff.
“I just tend to think it’s because we have a lot of really great depth. It’s nice to see them, yeah, playing really, really good tennis, and I feel like it’s good for the sport as well.”
Pegula will hope to put herself in the conversation with a win over Camila Giorgi, which the American leads their head-to-head 7-2.
Coco Gauff admits she didn’t play her best tennis at Indian Wells on Saturday after coming through a rollercoaster three-set battle.
The world No.3 needed more than two hours to oust France’s Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Gauff found herself trailing multiple times during the match. After losing the opening set, the reigning US Open champion then had to battle back from a 0-4 deficit in the decider. Capitalising on some tentative hitting from Burel who was bidding to record the biggest win of her career.
Despite prevailing, it was a far from vintage performance from Gauff who hit six double faults and 14 unforced errors during the first set alone. She also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 12 out of 36 points played.
“I think for me it’s just getting through that match definitely meant a lot,” Gauff said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel. But honestly, I was just telling myself, like, win or lose, I don’t want to have any regrets on the court. I want to be like I gave myself the best opportunity to win, and I did that. “Am I proud of how I played? Not really, to be honest. But the fight, I am proud of. I am eager to improve. I think it wasn’t my best tennis at all. I think I just have a lot of improvement that I can do to get better.”
The 19-year-old has become the first teenager in the last 15 years to have won 50 or more matches at WTA 1000 events. She will next play Lucia Bonzetti.
“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff commented on her latest milestone. “I feel like I have a lot of stats and stuff like that. Hopefully I can close this chapter of my life off good. I’m really happy with how my teenage years went.”
Sabalenka avoids major upset
Aryna Sabalenka was another player to experience trouble during their opening match after outlasting Peyton Sterns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (8), in a clash that lasted almost three hours. The world No.2 was on the verge of losing and had to save four match points when down 4-5 in the final set. Despite that blip, she held her nerve to break back before prevailing in a tightly contested tiebreaker.
“Wow, I think I was right when I see this tattoo of a tiger and I was fighting today like a tiger,” said Sabalenka. “It’s just crazy what happened. She’s an unbelievable player. “She played crazy tennis. She said at the net, ‘I had you,’ so she’s right. I was probably a little bit lucky to get this win. Super happy to get through this.” “I didn’t play my best tennis and she was crushing it like crazy. I was just trying to stay in the game and keep fighting for every point. But this match definitely goes into the book of craziest matches and the best matches of my career.”
Sabalenka is hoping to go one step better in Indian Wells than 12 months ago when she reached the final before losing to Elena Rybakina, who has pulled out of the tournament due to gastrointestinal issues.
Awaiting the Belrussian in the next round will be Emma Raducanu in what will be the first meeting on the Tour.
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka posted a convincing 7-5, 6-3, win over world No.15 Luidmila Samsonova. It is the first time she has beaten a top 20 player since returning to competitive tennis following the birth of her child.
Caroline Wozniacki is into the third round at Indian Wells after toppling Donna Vekic 7-6(3) 6-3 while Ons Jabeur crashed out.
The former Australian Open champion produced a resilient and clinical display to knock out Vekic in straight sets.
It was a clinical display on return as Wozniacki neutralized the Croatian’s serve to break on three occasions to reach the third round.
Speaking after the match Wozniacki described Indian Wells as one of the best tournaments in the world and was happy with the performance, “Donna is a great competitor, great player. I thought we both played really well today. Just happy to be through this one,” the 33 year-old told the WTA website.
“I’m here because I love to be here. You know, I’m lucky enough that I have been given some wildcards so I’m able to play these big tournaments and compete against the best players in the world.”
Wozniacki will now face Katie Volynets in the third round after the American stunned sixth seed Ons Jabeur.
The world number 131 recorded the biggest victory of her career against the out-of-sorts Tunisian in a 6-4 6-4 win.
In an interview after the match Volynets described how much it meant to her to beat one of her idols, “I’m so honored to have a wild card here and I’m so honored to play Ons,” the wildcard told the WTA website.
“I’ve been watching her on TV for years so it’s just such an honor to play here on this court against such a wonderful player. I’m definitely pleased with how I was able to execute today.
“I think it was very close the entire time. She was throwing in some amazing drop shots and slices and injecting some pace. I’m glad I was able to overcome that.”
The winner of Wozniacki and Volynets will play the winner of Veronika Kudermetova against Angelique Kerber.
Simona Halep will make her return to tennis in Miami after receiving a wildcard for the tournament.
The Romanian hasn’t played competitively for 19 months with her last appearance being a first round defeat to Daria Snigur at the 2022 US Open.
After her appearance in New York, Halep would be banned for four years from competitive tennis after failing a doping test.
A lengthy appeal process followed from Halep which eventually saw her ban reduced by the Court Of Arbitration For Sport to nine months, therefore allowing her to resume competitive tennis with immediate effect.
It hasn’t taken long for Halep to make her next step as the Romanian announced on Instagram that she has received a wildcard for the Miami Open.
It will be interesting to see what shape Halep is in as it would have made more logical sense for the former Roland Garros Champion to begin her comeback on clay.
The 32 year-old has made nine appearances in Miami and her best performance has been reaching the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019.
Time will tell whether Halep can repeat her past success with the Miami Open starting on the 19th of March.