Pegula aims for long run after nearly missing tournament
Jessica Pegula heard the jokes from other players at Wimbledon: “They’re like, ‘Did you play yet? You still haven’t played?!’ And they’re already on their second-round matches.”
The 28-year-old American, who is seeded No. 8 at the All England Club, finally got on court on Day 3 of the tournament to play her first grass-court match of 2022 — and Pegula won, eliminating Donna Vekic 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Wednesday.
Now Pegula will be scheduled to be back out there Thursday, trying to get to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.
Pegula almost did not enter the grass-court Grand Slam event at all. Her mother, Kim, was hospitalized in Florida about two weeks ago for what her family described then as “some unexpected health issues.” That was shortly after Jessica returned from the French Open, where she reached the quarterfinals in singles plus the final in doubles, alongside Coco Gauff.
Pegula’s parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
“She’s doing a lot better now. That’s why I’m here. If she wasn’t doing well, I probably wouldn’t have come,” Pegula said. “I felt comfortable coming here. But that’s why I didn’t play any warmup tournaments.”
Pegula said her husband and other members of the family are with Mom and have been passing along regular updates.
“I hope,” Pegula said, “she got to watch me play today.”
While Pegula has a game that suits hard courts well — and she’s made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open the past two years on that surface — she is displaying more and more ability to adapt and find success elsewhere.
After her breakthrough on the red clay of Roland Garros earlier this month, she looked right at home on Court 17 on Wednesday against Vekic. Pegula finished with one more winner and far fewer unforced errors, 34-20.
“A lot of people tell me my game would be really good for grass, because I hit really flat and hit through the court. When I first played on grass, I
really liked it, because it was quicker and suited my game. But the courts have slowed down a lot and so I didn’t enjoy it as much the last few years,” Pegula said. “Today it felt real good.”
On the men’s side, Casper Ruud, the runnerup to Rafael Nadal at this year’s French Open, became the seventh of the top 11-ranked male players to be out of the grasscourt Grand Slam for either losing early, injury, illness or being banned.
Ruud, who was seeded third but ranked sixth, lost to Ugo Humbert of France 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round.
Djokovic, a six-time Wimbledon champion who is looking for his fourth straight title at the All England Club, beat Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round. Nadal advanced to the second round on Tuesday.
The third-ranked Djokovic, No. 4 Nadal, No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 7 Carlos Alcaraz are the only players in the top 11 remaining in the draw. Top-ranked Daniil Medvedev is out because of a ban on Russians over the war in Ukraine, No. 2 Alexander Zverev is injured, No. 8 Andrey Rublev of Russia is also banned, No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz lost, and No. 11 Matteo Berrettini withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19.
Fifth-seeded Alcaraz advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 7-6 (0), 6-3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor.
The win keeps the 19year-old Spaniard on course for a potential quarterfinal match against Djokovic.
Alcaraz will next play the 32nd-seeded Oscar Otte of Germany.
Two-time champion Andy Murray’s secondround loss to John Isner is his earliest exit from Wimbledon. The 6-10 American beat Murray 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4, hitting 36 aces and 82 winners.
Isner next faces No.10 seed Jannik Sinner who defeated Mikael Ymer of Sweden 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Reigning U.S. Open women’s champion Emma Raducanu is out of Wimbledon in the second round after losing to Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-3. Garcia, who won the Bad Homburg title in Germany last week, has won seven consecutive matches.