Jess Pegula lost her first match at the WTA Finals tournament last night.
Pegula is currently ranked no. 3 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world rankings. She faced Maria Sakkari in her group stage match on Monday.
Eight days before Monday’s match, Pegula and Sakkari played each other in the Guadalajara 1000 finals. Pegula beat Sakkari in straight sets: 6-2, 6-3. It was her first WTA 1000 title win.
On Monday, the roles were reversed with Sakkari beating Pegula in straight sets. Each set was close and ended in a tie-break: 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4).
“I was very aggressive,” Sakkari said in her post-match press conference, according to WTA Tour. “If you’re passive, Jess is just going to make you run — she’s going to hit the ball very hard, and it’s over.”
Pegula will play her second group stage match against fellow American Coco Gauff on Wednesday.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.
