“Serena Williams is on her way out and Emma Raducanu's won a slam but still on her way in; it will be cool to see the two of them out there” - Jessica Pegula ahead of Cincinnati 2022

The draw for the Western & Southern Open has been announced and reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu is scheduled to take on Serena Williams in the first round at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In what will presumably be her final WTA tour tournament before she bows out after the US Open, Williams will face Raducanu on Monday night in what will be the first clash between the two.

Jessica Pegula, fresh off her quarterfinal defeat to Yulia Putintseva at the National Bank Open, gave her thoughts on the upcoming clash between the 40-year-old American and the 19-year-old Brit.

“Serena's kind of on her way out. And Emma's already won a Slam, but still on her way in. And it will just be kind of cool to see the two of them out there. I'm sure it's kind of cool for her, at least she gets to play Serena. Serena isn't going to play after the US Open so that will be exciting,” Pegula said.

Williams will compete at Cincinnati after registering her first singles win of the season at the Canadian Open before losing to Belinda Bencic in the second round. Raducanu, on the other hand, lost to Camila Giorgi in her opening round clash in Toronto.

“That's a nice popcorn match I guess for everyone. Serena hasn't been playing that much. Emma at least got a little momentum in DC, lost a tough match to Giorgi here. It will be interesting,” she added.

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“Just feeling her presence, the power that she has; that was something different from other players” - Jessica Pegula on Serena Williams

Jessica Pegula and Serena Williams at the 2020 Women's ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Seventh seed Jessica Pegula beat Kazakh’s Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-3 at the Aviva Center to move into the semifinals of the 2022 Canadian Open on Friday. The World No. 7, who is the highest-ranked woman remaining in the draw, will take on Simona Halep for a place in the title clash in Toronto.

Speaking at her post-match press conference, Pegula touched upon the topic of Serena Williams after the veteran announced her plans to retire a few days ago. The two went head-to-head in the 2020 Auckland Classic final, where Williams won 6-3, 6-4 to clinch her first title since the 2017 Australian Open.

“That final was actually really cool because not a lot of people can say they have played her [Serena Williams] in a final. I know she was also trying to play tournaments, get matches. It was her first title as a mom so I know it was really special. I know her daughter was there with her and it was pretty cool to see them that week. It was a cool experience,” she said.

“I think the biggest thing for me was... I haven't even like practiced, I practiced with her once after that. But that was the first time I really even hit with her or practiced or whatever. Just feeling her presence, the power that she has. You can definitely feel it on the other side of the court and that was something that was different from other players,” she added.

Pegula said that she’s sad to see Williams walk away from the game she has dominated for more than two decades.

“I think everyone's in awe of what she's done and it's kind of sad, I guess, to see it sort of come to an end. But there's not much else I can say. I think everything she's done kind of speaks for itself,” she stated.