It’s been a blockbuster year for American women in tennis, lighting up the Slams with grit and glory. Madison Keys kicked off 2025 with a shockwave, toppling Aryna Sabalenka in a fiery three-setter to seize the Australian Open. Then came Coco Gauff’s Parisian masterpiece, once again with Sabalenka as the fallen foe. Jessica Pegula’s been rock-solid too, racking up three titles. But as the North American hard-court swing rolled in, back-to-back losses struck, and with her Canadian Open three-peat dream shattered in a nightmare, Jessica Pegula made her feelings clear about her Canadian Open disappointment.

Jessica Pegula’s National Bank Open campaign came to a crashing halt on Friday after a stunning third-round loss to Anastasija Sevastova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. What began with promise turned into a rollercoaster, ending in a deflating defeat that left the American star searching for answers with the US Open looming large. Standing under the lights for her post-match reflections, Pegula didn’t sugarcoat her frustrations. “Hasn’t been great to be honest. I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy. Which I don’t like,” she admitted with blunt honesty.

There was no hiding from the truth, Pegula’s perfectionist streak had been poked raw. As she peeled back the emotional layers of her recent performances, she laid bare her struggle to maintain rhythm and sharpness. “It really bothers me. I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I don’t like having to say that. But I mean I feel like I’ve gone through phases of my career, a few tournaments where I feel like that sometimes and you got to figure out how to get out of it and not, you know, feel sorry for yourself or make excuses,” she explained, with the weight of expectations pressing visibly on her shoulders.

Determined not to let the slump define her, Jessica Pegula emphasized the fight still burning inside. “I got to figure it out, and you have to do it, you know, in those moments in matches where you’re in that moment where you know you have to compete and figure things out. And I don’t think I’ve been able to do it great the last couple matches,” she reflected. Her words hit with clarity, this wasn’t about talent, it was about rising in the moments that matter most.

With Cincinnati on the horizon, Pegula knows what must change. “So hopefully going into Cincy I think that’s definitely going to be my main focus. Every single match is, you know, focusing on those big points in those big games. Because I do think I am playing some good tennis to get up in these matches, and I’m playing, you know, there are times where I’m reeling off, you know, six, seven really good games, and then it kind of falls away. So, I got to figure out how to kind of sustain that higher level against these good players,” she concluded. The road to Flushing Meadows demands resolve, and Pegula’s eyes are locked in.

Ranked No. 386 in the PIF WTA Rankings, Anastasija Sevastova stormed into the Canadian Open using a protected ranking after battling through a brutal knee injury. She became the lowest-ranked player to topple a Top 10 star since Angelique Kerber stunned Jelena Ostapenko at Indian Wells over a year ago.

And as Jessica Pegula’s Canadian heartbreak unfolded, she didn’t shy away from the pain. While her US Open hopes remain alive despite fans’ wrath, Jessica Pegula issues a bold message on the struggles, revealing a rising threat that now looms larger with each passing match.

Jessica Pegula opens up about trolls and mental health

Back in 2021, Naomi Osaka made headlines not for her game, but for her powerful choice to withdraw from the French Open, revealing she had been battling “long bouts of depression.” A year later, she took it a step further, deleting her social media accounts after facing harsh online criticism over a fashion magazine cover. “I just deleted Twitter, I deleted Instagram, and I was like, you know these aren’t real people,” said the Japanese star, putting her mental health far above public noise.

Then came Amanda Anisimova, who in May 2023 peeled back the layers of her own mental health battle. Burned out since the summer of 2022, she stepped away from tennis altogether. The raw honesty in her revelation opened more eyes to the unseen burdens elite athletes carry, beyond the baseline and outside the stadium lights.

But while some stars speak their truth, others wrestle silently. In a sport where pressure is constant and expectations are sky-high, voices like Osaka’s and Anisimova’s have made a lasting impact. Bianca Andreescu, too, stepped into the light to share her journey, proving there’s strength in vulnerability.

Jessica Pegula, never one to shy away from difficult conversations, praised her fellow athletes during an interview with Omnium Banque Nationale on July 30. When asked about online trolls and their effect on mental well-being, she delivered with power: “So, now all of a sudden there’s a whole other element that’s gone into being a pro athlete where you’re online all the time. So it’s changed completely. We’ve seen that with girls like Amanda Anisimova, with Naomi Osaka, with Bianca (Andreescu) that aren’t afraid to say, ‘Hey, I’m…this is too much.’”

Now, with her Canadian Open chapter closed, Pegula’s focus shifts to Cincinnati. The fire’s still in her eyes, will she strike form just in time for a deep US Open run? Only time, grit, and the rhythm of her game will decide.