WASHINGTON, D.C. — A dozen years ago, Jessica Pegula — ranked No. 143 in the world — lost her first main-draw match at the Citi Open. In her next visit in 2016, she made it to the semifinals.
In 2019, with her ranking up to No. 79, Pegula scored the breakthrough of her career at the age of 25. She sprinted through the field — beating Katerina Siniakova, Iga Swiatek, Lauren Davis, qualifier Anna Kalinskaya and, in the final, Camila Giorgi to collect her first professional title at any level.
“For me, getting that monkey off my back, being able to do it at a tour level for the first time was great,” Pegula told reporters on Sunday. “That was such a big mountain for me to climb at the time, and now I’m sitting here and I have won, I don’t know, eight or nine or whatever it is, and doubles titles, as well.
“It’s kind of funny how things can seem far away, but once you do them it becomes easier, it’s less of a mountain to get over.”
Six years later, Pegula returns to the Mubadala Citi DC Open as the World No. 4 and the top seed. Thanks to a bye, she’ll play a second-round match against the winner between Leylah Fernandez and Maya Joint.
By now, it’s been established that North American hard courts are Pegula’s happy place. A year ago, after losing her second match at the Paris Olympics, she did this:
Won nine of 10 matches at the WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati, taking the title in Canada, and then advancing to her first Grand Slam final at the US Open. Although Pegula lost to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in both Cincinnati and New York, she went a searing 15-2 over that stretch.
“Definitely my favorite part of the year,” Pegula, now 31, explained. “I feel like I always play some of my best tennis here. Just looking forward to it. It’s gone by so fast. I can’t believe we’re already back here.”
That’s because the past several months have been a bit of a blur. For this year, Pegula started a little earlier. Back in March, she won the ATX Open in Austin, then followed it up with a run to the final at the Miami Open. Two WTA 500 titles, in Charleston and Bad Homburg, followed. Not only do Pegula and Sabalenka lead all Hologic WTA Tour players with three titles, but she did it on three different surfaces.
In Bad Homburg, Pegula beat Emma Navarro and Linda Noskova in three-set matches, before drawing Swiatek in the final. Pegula defeated the four-time French Open champion 6-4, 7-5.
“I thought our final was a really high level,” Pegula said. “It was super close. She is always kind of down on herself about grass, and I was, like, ‘Hey, you’re playing really good on grass.’
“So it was kind of funny that she ended up winning Wimbledon. But that’s just tennis for you. You kind of never know.”
To that point, three days after taking the title Pegula actually lost her first-round match at Wimbledon to Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ranked outside the Top 100. Pegula said she flushed that result away and got in two solid weeks of training at home in South Florida.
And now she’s looking forward to another big run in her sixth trip to the nation’s capital.
“I still feel like I have those memories every time I come back,” Pegula said. “I know so many of the volunteers and the people that work this tournament, from the security to the transport that have seen me and helped me over the last six years.
“So it’s been really cool, and I still have that same kind of feeling every time I come back here. That’s why I always feel like I can play good tennis here and have some good results.”