Breaking News: Serena Williams reacts negatively to Jessica Pegula’s victory in Berlin due to…

June 24, 2024 admin Jessica Pegula, serena williams 0

Breaking News: Serena Williams reacts negatively to Jessica Pegula’s victory in Berlin due to…

 

Pegula’s 2024 season has been marred by injury struggles, which caused her to miss the entire Middle East swing and the European claycourt season, including the French Open. The 30-year-old’s much-awaited return to the tour at the Libema Open ended in a second-round exit with a narrow loss to Aleksandra Krunic.

However, the World No. 5 got back to winning ways at the WTA 500 event in Berlin, beating Donna Vekic and Katerina Siniakova to set up a blockbuster semifinal clash against Coco Gauff. After rain forced a suspension of play during the all-American contest on Saturday, June 22, Jessica Pegula returned on Sunday to complete her 7-5, 7-6(2) victory.

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Later that same day, the 30-year-old took on Anna Kalinskaya in the highly anticipated final. Despite serving for the opening set at 5-3, Pegula lost the lead of the match to the Russian in the tiebreak. Nevertheless, she battled back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to force a decider.

Finding herself on the brink of defeat, Jessica Pegula fended off five championship points to claim a 6-7(0), 6-4, 7-6(3) victory after a closely contested two-hour and 38-minute battle. In doing so, she clinched her first title of the season and her maiden title on grass.

The American’s exceptional performance earned high praise from Rennae Stubbs, who congratulated the World No. 5 on her “incredible” comeback from injury.

“CONGRATS @JPegula!! I mean what an incredible comeback from injury! Damn!” Stubbs posted on X.

Jessica Pegula after Berlin triumph: “This is the most grass-court confidence that I’ve had going into Wimbledon”

Jessica Pegula after her Berlin 2024 triumph (Source: Getty)
Jessica Pegula after her Berlin 2024 triumph (Source: Getty)

Jessica Pegula’s triumph at the WTA 500 event in Berlin has given her a much-needed confidence boost for the Wimbledon Championships, commencing on July 1.

Speaking to the press after her win, the American asserted that her closely contested battles and the challenging rain delays in Berlin have also aided her mental preparation for the grasscourt Major.

“This is the most grass-court confidence that I’ve had probably going into Wimbledon. Hopefully that pays off as well. Being able to tough out a couple of matches and have a couple of long matches, especially for the body to get ready, and dealing with a lot of the rain delays too,” Pegula said.

“That’s always possible at Wimbledon as well, so that was good prep mentally as well. I feel like I’ve been through a lot this week, so if I could handle this week I think at Wimbledon I should feel pretty good,” she added.

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Iga Swiatek raised a few eyebrows after she opted not to play any grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon, but her decision appears to have been vindicated as her main rivals have struggled during the recent Berlin Ladies Open.

World No 1 Swiatek was due to be the top seed at this week’s grass-court event in a high-quality field that boasted several top 10 players in the WTA Rankings, including Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.

But the Pole announced her withdrawal from the WTA 500 event following a long, but successful clay-court season that saw her win three big titles in a row as she lifted trophies at the Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open.

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“Due to overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense 9 weeks, unfortunately I do need to withdraw from the tournament in Berlin in order to rest and recover,” the five-time Grand Slam winner said in a statement.

It meant Swiatek will head to Wimbledon without any matches on grass on her belt and it is always a risky decision, given that the likes of Gauff, Sabalenka, Rybakina, defending Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and two-time finalist Ons Jabeur were all getting minutes on the surface ahead of the major.

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However, the injury and illness curse have struck several players on the WTA Tour as first Vondrousova suffered a leg injury after a nasty slip during her second-round match. She retired injured and is yet to give an update about her fitness for Wimbledon.

2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina was next to be hit by the “curse” as she played just four games in the quarter-final against Victoria Azarenka before retiring with illness.

Rybakina also struggled during her round of 16 match while she also missed her Italian Open title defence due to health issues.

World No 3 Sabalenka then lasted only six games against Anna Kalinskaya in the semi-final before she retired due to a shoulder injury while trailing 1-5.

It was Sabalenka’s first-ever WTA retirement due to injury.

Jabeur, who had finished runner-up at Wimbledon the past two years lost the opening set 7-6 (11-9) against top seed Gauff before she also threw in the towel due to illness.

“It doesn’t feel like a win. We had such a good first set,” Gauff said.

“I wish Ons the best, I think it’s something that is just going to happen today and she’ll be better tomorrow, so hopefully she’ll be at Wimbledon.”

The quartet of Sabalenka, Rybakina, Vondrousova and Jabeur have just over a week to regain full fitness for Wimbledon as the tournament gets underway on July 1.

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