American Jessica Pegula, World No. 7 and 2024 US Open finalist, opened her 2025 season at Adelaide International. She faced Maria Sakkari for the 11th time. Each woman won five previous matches. Sakkari played the qualifying rounds to get more match play and entered the tournament as the lucky loser.
Pegula got off to a slow start going down 0-2; however, she picked up her level and defeated Sakkari 6-4, 6-1. Jessica Pegula played a cleaner match than Maria Sakkari with fewer double faults and unforced errors.
Hot shot for the win 🔥@JPegula moves into the quarterfinals after defeating Sakkari 6-4, 6-1.#AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/ICVElOibf5
— wta (@WTA) January 8, 2025
After the match she said that she was focused on serving, returning, and moving as she prepares for the 2025 Australian Open next week. Jessica Pegula is the top seed at Adelaide and wants to do better than her second round finish at last year’s Australian Open. She was a quaterfinalist for three straight years in Melbourne from 2021-2023.
Pegula advances to the quarterfinals and will face the winner of the Paula Badosa and Ashlyn Krueger match. Krueger and Pegula are teaming up to play doubles this week.
This is the second season that the 30-year-old Pegula is being coached by Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein. Under their tutelage, she won two titles last year and advanced to her first Grand Slam final. Prior to 2024, David Witt was Pegula’s longtime coach. (Witt coached Sakkari briefly and is now Frances Tiafoe’s coach.) Pegula has six WTA title wins in her career.
She is ranked World No. 7 and is no longer the highest ranked American woman. Coco Gauff now holds that honor. Though Pegula and Gauff do not play doubles together anymore, each is supportive of the other. Pegula was very excited for Gauff and the US United Cup team’s win last week. Pegula was a member of the US’s last United Cup championship team in 2023.
