Jessica Pegula reveals plan to keep ‘pushing’ Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina
Jessica Pegula has opened up about the challenge of facing both Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, and how she plans to keep “pushing” both the world No 1 and world No 2.
Sabalenka has reigned at the top of the WTA Rankings since October 2024, having previously been No 1 for a short spell in 2023, while Rybakina reached a career-high of world No 2 in the WTA Rankings this week.
Kazakh ace Rybakina has been in fine form in recent months, winning the Australian Open and WTA Finals — beating Sabalenka in both finals.
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However, the Belarusian turned the tables on Rybakina in Indian Wells last week, saving a championship point in a thrilling final to lift the title at the WTA 1000 event for the first time.
Outside of Sabalenka and Rybakina, world No 5 Pegula has been another of the form players on the WTA Tour in recent months, most notably winning the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
The American has repeatedly faced both Sabalenka and Rybakina in recent months, though has often fallen on the wrong side of the result.
Rybakina defeated Pegula in the semi-final of the WTA Finals last November, and then also beat the 32-year-old in the Australian Open semi-final in January, and the Indian Wells quarter-final last week.
Sabalenka also beat Pegula during the round-robin phase of the WTA Finals last season, and memorably beat the American in the 2024 US Open final, the 2025 US Open semi-final, and the final of the Miami Open twelve months ago.
Speaking ahead of her Miami Open campaign this year, world No 5 Pegula revealed how she was trying to adapt her game to face the two best players on tour.
“I think a lot of the matches I’ve lost, you know, big matches, have been more or less to them or to Coco [Gauff],” said Pegula.
“I’ve done really well as far as improving my game and kind of knowing what I need to do.
“I think I’ve been playing a little bit more aggressive. I think I’ve been serving a lot better. Always kind of working on my movement and figuring out different strategies and plays that I think will work well against them.
“But they’re playing some amazing, amazing tennis, and I think rightfully right now they are the two best players in the world, just by their results and the matches that they’ve had flipping back and forth at big tournaments and finals.”
Despite recent struggles against the two, Pegula has had significant wins against both women in the past.
The American has won three of her eight encounters against Rybakina, having beaten the Kazakh at the 2023 WTA Finals, and WTA 1000 events in Miami and Guadalajara in 2022.
While she is 9-3 down in her head-to-head against Sabalenka, she has pushed the world No 1 to three sets on multiple occasions, and ended the Belarusian’s reign at the Wuhan Open in a thrilling three-set semi-final last October.
Despite recent losses to both women, Pegula has a strong belief that she can continue to be among their toughest opponents.
She added: “I’ve beaten them before, so it’s not like I feel like it’s impossible, but I do feel like they’re playing some really good tennis and they’re the people to beat.
“Just being able to believe in that type of stuff when I’m playing them in big moments and big points is kind of the difference. But I’ve been right there and super close.
“It’s hard. They’re tall, big girls with big serves, and sometimes it’s a little frustrating for someone that’s not as tall. But I still think there’s a lot of stuff that I can do really well and keep improving to keep pushing them.”
Pegula could well face one or both of Sabalenka and Rybakina at the Miami Open this coming fortnight, with all three women in the top half of the singles draw.
Much like in Indian Wells, Pegula and Rybakina are in the same quarter of the draw, with the fifth seed and third seed projected to meet in the quarter-final.
Whoever progresses from that second quarter will face the semi-finalist that emerges from the top quarter of the draw, with top seed and defending champion Sabalenka the heavy favourite to progress.
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