If someone thought that having a 4-0 head-to-head record against Emma Navarro would make life easier for Jessica Pegula at the US Open, they were mistaken. Throughout the match, as she battled her way out of a tricky three-set match, Pegula was in frequent conversations with her coaches’ corner. And there was one particular moment that caught everyone’s eyes.

Down 4-2 in the first set, ESPN’s cameras caught the third seed bouncing her racket off the court in frustration and telling her coaches she had never double-faulted this many times in her life. Pegula later opened up about such moments in her on-court interview.

“Uh, it’s okay. I mean, the coaches’ box is like sometimes you’re fighting with them, but you’re also, it’s like in a good way. You know it’s trying to get you going. It’s trying to get energy. Um, at the same time you’re trying to listen, get feedback, and all this stuff,” Pegula said. “So I mean, they’ve all played. They know what it’s like out there, and so they do a great job of supporting me no matter what. Um, but it doesn’t mean sometimes I can get a little annoyed.”

Pegula’s box had her coaching team, consisting of Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein. Both are former professional tennis players with extensive doubles experience, with Knowles a former World No. 1 and a Grand Slam doubles champion. He won three major men’s doubles titles alongside Daniel Nestor, plus the 2009 Wimbledon mixed doubles crown.

Since the start of the team-up in early 2024, Pegula has won several times, including WTA 1000 titles and also reaching the 2024 US Open final. But Tuesday’s grind tested that partnership in a way her tidier wins this fortnight hadn’t. Knowles himself told ESPN between sets that she was playing too passively, part of why her box had plenty to say all night.

This also wasn’t the first time this season Pegula has addressed tension with her team mid-tournament. At the Charleston Open in April, she admitted getting “annoyed” after her coaches criticized her attitude following a lost first set, adding that she sometimes ends up “talking to myself at the same time” as she talks to them.

“I feel like, for me, someone who doesn’t show a ton of emotion, there are times where I do feel like I have to let it out, and he claims he kind of did it on purpose. I don’t really know if that’s true, but he was like, ‘I did kind of want you to just like almost get mad at me a little bit just to, like, stop over-thinking all the other things that were happening in the match,’” Pegula said back then, per Tennis Head.

On a podcast the same week, she said she rarely directs frustration at her team or herself during matches at all, that sparring with umpires used to be her real outlet for on-court emotion, and that she still misses it.

Against Navarro, there were plenty of reasons for Pegula to keep looking towards her coaches for guidance. Navarro started the match strong, getting an early break to go 2-0 in the first set. However, Pegula was quick to respond, breaking back to make it 2-2. Navarro was the better player in the set, though, as she won three consecutive games to take a 5-2 lead in the set, eventually closing it out at 6-3.

Pegula again responded in the second set, taking a 3-1 lead, but the third seed’s serve was out of rhythm, as she once again conceded the break with the set tied at 3-3. Still, Pegula eventually won the second set 6-4.

With both players having a scratchy game, the third set was there for either to claim, but it was Navarro who got the break first to take a 2-1 lead. However, this is when Pegula took the decisive lead in the match, winning four games in a row, which included two service breaks.

That said, Pegula had eight double faults, something she has to improve on as she gets ready to face a familiar foe in the semifinals.

Jessica Pegula to Face Aryna Sabalenka for a Third Straight Time at the US Open

The win against Navarro sets up a third consecutive clash between Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open. The two played each other in the 2024 final, where the Belarusian clinched the title in two close sets. They faced off once again at Flushing Meadows last year, with Pegula pushing the Belarusian to three sets in the semifinal, but could not change the result.

Coming into this US Open, Sabalenka’s form was in question as the Belarusian had taken some unlikely losses since her title run in Miami. However, she has been in good form in New York, having not dropped a set before facing the Czech sixth seed. Her toughest opposition came in the quarterfinals against Wimbledon champion, Linda Noskova, where the top seed had to recover from a 4-2 deficit in the third set to win the match.

Even though Sabalenka has a 9-4 win-loss record against Pegula, the American has been in better form of late, reaching the Cincinnati final before the US Open. With the crowd behind her, the match promises to be one of the best encounters at this year’s competition.