In-Form Jessica Pegula Looks Ready for Another Deep US Open Run

After defeating former three-time finalist Victoria Azarenka in the third round 6-1 7-5, Pegula talked about how good her movement was, and how she wanted to make the game physical. Along with this she has shown great decision making, consistency in her groundstrokes and ability to stand up in clutch moments.

She has also reached a career best five WTA finals in 2025, winning at Austin, Charleston and Bad Homburg. This must be taken as a positive in general, but especially here in Flushing Meadows, where she has the fans on her side and has been playing on Arthur Ashe from day one.

Was Last Year’s Final Appearance an Outlier or a Sign of Things to Come?

As good as her year has been, there is the gnawing feeling that last year’s final was the exception to her Grand Slam career. In her 26 previous Grand Slam appearances, discounting last year, she has never made it past the quarter-final stage.

That may be the case, but there is little doubt that Pegula is playing better tennis now than even when she reached the final last year. She appears to have smoothed away the rough edges, those lapses and dips that too often stood as the great barricade between her talent and  actual success.

If she succeeds against Li, then she will be favoured to make the semi-final, but Pegula, like most players, take the sport one game at a time. And yet, if she does stride into the last eight, the stealthy hum of her progress will surely swell into something that will be impossible to ignore.