Jessica Pegula just woke up from her dream of a three-peat at the Canadian Open with a nightmarish match. The American, who owned the Montreal crown the past two years, was expected to lift the trophy again—especially with her red-hot form in 2025, winning titles at Homburg, Charleston, and Austin, and holding tight to her No. 4 WTA ranking. She was everyone’s favorite headed into the tournament. Yet, it’s a tough day for the 31-year-old and her fans.

On Friday, the tournament’s third seed, faced world No. 386 Anastasija Sevastova, and nothing went as expected. Despite coming out strong, Pegula couldn’t hold on. She suffered a shocking 6-3, 4-6, 1-6 defeat that had fans buzzing. As one X user bluntly put it, “What a true embarrassment from Jessica Pegula. This is the world number 3?! WTA gotta do better.” Ouch!

Pegula looked in command early, snatching breaks in the first and ninth games to claim the opening set with authority. Riding high, she won the first two games of the second set, and everyone watching thought a straight-set victory was only minutes away.

But then, out of nowhere, Sevastova turned the tide. She powered through to snatch four games in a row, flipping the script. Pegula fought back to push the second set to 4-all but dropped her serve again, and Sevastova coolly served out the set, forcing a decider.

By the third set, the momentum was all Sevastova’s. Pegula’s game unraveled, and Sevastova raced through five straight games from 1-1 to secure a comeback win nobody saw coming. The upset leaves fans stunned—and the defending champ searching for answers. The fans sure are looking for a few now.

Fans come down hard on Jessica Pegula

Following the shock upset, one user wrote, “What’s good with Jessica Pegula? US Opens finals spot fooled us all?” It’s hard to forget her big breakthrough last season when she stormed into the 2024 US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka. Though the Belarusian snatched the title, Pegula’s path to the championship match was anything but easy!

She stitched together a remarkable run, knocking out Shelby Rogers, Sofia Kenin, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Diana Shnaider, Iga Swiatek, and Karolina Muchova. During that stretch, she dropped just one set and won 55% of all points played. The 30-year-old racked up a strong 2024 with titles in Berlin—where she saved five championship points against Anna Kalinskaya—and Toronto, ousting Amanda Anisimova in the final. She wrapped up the year with a 36-11 record, including an impressive 26-6 on hard courts. Before this burst, her best Grand Slam finish was a quarterfinal in 2022.

But now, after this disappointing turn, another fan lamented, “Not a great outing for Jessica Pegula today. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her have 60+ UEs in a match before. On the other hand, Anastasija Sevastova has been playing great this week. I wonder how many more of these 3 set matches her body will allow her to play.” Despite the tough exit, Pegula still made headlines at the Canadian Open by reaching a massive milestone after her opening-round win over Maria Sakkari.

According to Opta Ace on X, Pegula set a new record at the Canadian Open: a 90.0% win rate—the best ever by any player in a single WTA 1000 event (minimum 20 matches) since 2009. She topped legends like Serena Williams, who peaked at 88.9% in Rome, and Maria Sharapova with 88.5% in the Italian capital. Sadly, this early exit puts a dent in that shiny stat.

As another fan pointed out, “Jessica Pegula might be washed. She is pushing 30 years. Her game is on the decline.” Yet, Pegula has been busy leaving her mark on WTA 1000 events this season. She started hot with a quarterfinal in Qatar, rolled on to the Round of 16 in Dubai and Indian Wells, and powered into the Miami final. The clay courts, though, tripped her up—she was out in the first round in both Madrid and Rome.

Still, seeing the No.4 player walk off devastated led one fan to ask, “Is Jessica Pegula the worst top 10 WTA player of all time? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her have a good tournament.” Critics aside, she did capture three titles on different surfaces. At the Grand Slams, though, things didn’t click: third round at the Australian Open, fourth round at Roland Garros, and an early exit at Wimbledon alongside other top seeds.

Pegula came to Montreal hoping to work some magic, but it wasn’t meant to be this year. The season isn’t done, though—if history has shown us anything, it’s that Jessica Pegula knows how to bounce back. Maybe New York will see another deep run. What do you think—can Pegula surprise us again? Let us know in the comments below!