Jessica Pegula Opens Up on Jack Draper’s Shocking US Open Withdrawal: “Gets Injured a Lot”

Jessica Pegula has been sailing through her 2025 US Open draw with her usual efficient and dominant style, but things took a tough turn for one of her recent partners in the tournament. Pegula, who’s the No. 4 seed and a finalist from 2024, has been on fire lately, not dropping a single set and barely spending any time on the court. That’s quite the difference compared to British No. 1 Jack Draper’s situation.

Draper, who’s the fifth seed and made it to the semifinals in 2024, showed up in New York dealing with a pretty serious injury. He’s got bone stress and bruising in the humerus of his left arm, which has kept him out of action since Wimbledon. He fought hard in a challenging first-round singles match and teamed up with Pegula for an unexpected journey to the mixed doubles semifinals. However, he had to pull out of the singles draw before his second-round match, which was a tough setback for one of the tour’s up-and-coming stars.

After her own win in the fourth round, Jessica Pegula shared her feelings about the letdown of watching her temporary doubles partner’s journey come to an unexpected halt. In a press conference, she provided a candid insight into the timeline of Draper’s withdrawal, revealing she had a sense his physical struggles were ongoing. “Yeah, I—I kind of knew his arm wasn’t great in the doubles. He kind of alluded like maybe it was, it was, it wasn’t a hundred percent yet,” Pegula stated.

She detailed how quickly the situation unfolded after their time together on court, adding, “Um, but then obviously he played his first round, and then I saw him and was talking to him, and then, like, an hour later he pulled out, and so, you know, I just sent him a text and was like, ‘Hey, I’m so sorry. Like, hope you’re doing okay. I hope you get healthy,’ and you know, all that stuff.”

Pegula’s comments underscore not just her empathy for a fellow competitor but also hint at a broader, frustrating pattern for the talented 23-year-old Draper. She expressed sympathy for his difficult situation, noting, “So, um, it’s really tough. I mean, especially for the guys, it seems like he gets injured a lot. I don’t know. I, um, and that is unfortunate when you can’t stay healthy.”

The American is really focused on making a deep run in singles, but you can tell from what she says that there’s a strong sense of camaraderie on tour. Everyone knows how fast things can turn around at a major championship, where you can experience both victory and heartbreak all at once. However, recently, Pegula also gave a candid reflection of her form before the US Open.

Jessica Pegula got a big reality check

Jessica Pegula came into the 2025 US Open feeling a bit shaky—she had faced three consecutive second-round exits in the hard-court tournaments before heading to New York, which really took a toll on her confidence.

In a practice session before the tournament, Pegula really struggled against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who completely outplayed her. She talked about the session pretty straightforwardly, saying, “I felt terrible coming into this tournament, honestly. I had a practice on Wednesday, and I literally, like, I think I hit with Sabalenka. She just killed me. I was playing terrible, and then we went out for like a second hour, and I stopped like halfway through the hour and was like ‘I’m done,’ like, this isn’t good. I don’t know why I’m out here practicing.”

That tough reality check really seemed to make a difference. But Pegula bounced back and really turned things around at Flushing Meadows—she cruised through her matches without losing a set and made it all the way to the quarterfinals, taking down fellow American Ann Li in the process. We’ll just have to wait and see how she does in the rest of the tournament.

Now, don’t miss our exclusive EssentiallySports behind-the-scenes interview for a sneak peek into the US Open like never before!