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Jessica Pegula edged out fourth seed Elena Rybakina to take a lead in the group stage of the 2023 WTA Finals on Monday, October 30.
The American initially trailed 5-3 in the first set. She turned the tables in her favor and broke Rybakina, winning the next four games in a row. The 2022 Wimbledon champion lost her rhythm and made 35 unforced errors, giving Pegula a headway.
Pegula won 10 of the final 12 games in a 7-5, 6-2 round-robin victory against the Kazakh who is making her debut at the WTA Finals this year.
In a post-match interview with the Tennis Channel, the interviewer shared a statistic with Pegula. He told the World No. 5 that with her opening win, she currently holds a record of 48-0 win-loss in first sets.
A wide-eyed Pegula said:
"Really? Oh wow. Holy [laughs] Really? Wow. I really, I'm going to be zeroing on these first sets now. Or like, if I won the first set Im going to be really tight, like if I don't win the second set I'm going to uh[sighs]"
The interviewer reminded her that winning the first set and losing in the second would still mean that there would be a third set to go. Pegula concurred and added:
"I gotta look at it in a positive way. Thank you. That's a crazy stat."
Jessica Pegula will next lock horns with Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Finals group stages.
Jessica Pegula hopeful of successful run at WTA Finals after opening round win over Elena Rybakina
Jessica Pegula exuded confidence after her opening-round victory over World No. 4 Elena Rybakina.
In a post-match interaction with the media, the American spoke of finding gaps in her opponent's game. She said that being able to "read" her opponent's serve helped turn it to her advantage (h/t WTA's official website):
“She made a couple of errors, a couple of loose points and I was able to jump on it and find my momentum.
"I started serving a little better after that and was able to get a read on her serve and I started finding my rhythm a little bit with the court and the balls. I just took advantage of the opportunity that I had."
With the match, Pegula equaled Iga Swiatek's record of most matches (42) played on the WTA tour in 2023. During this time, the 29-year-old has 5+ break point conversions.
