Jessica Pegula vs. Aryna Sabalenka: A “weird” but consistent US Open schedule brings the American to her greatest challenge

NEW YORK—Rest and relaxation typically aren’t associated with the US Open, but Jessica Pegula is making an exception.

Start with her results in Flushing Meadows: She’s played five matches, and they’ve all ended in straight sets. The most recent, a 6-3, 6-3 victory over 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, lasted a tidy hour and 26 minutes—her second-longest match of the tournament.

Beyond her efficiency on the court, Pegula has probably rested as much as possible off it. That’s because of an abnormally consistent schedule for an event that leans into the frenetic.

It’s a little weird. Jessica Pegula, on her 2025 US Open schedule

It started on the first day of main-draw play—a Sunday—August 24. Pegula wasn’t a fan of the US Open’s decision to add a third day to the first round, but she made the most of it, winning her night match 6-0, 6-4—earning her two days off, highly unusual during a major. Even this seen-it-all veteran was unsure how she’d spend her tonnage of idle time.

“It’s a little bit different than I’m used to, so I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do tomorrow—whether I take the day off and chill, or want to practice, or keep it low key,” Pegula told me afterward in an exclusive chat. “Two days off, I’ve never had to do that before. It’s a little weird.”

As our conversation in a hallway by the entrance to Arthur Ashe Stadium continued, Sunday turned to Monday.

“With the late finish, though, I think it’s kind of nice that I don’t have to worry too much about feeling that I only have a day to recover.”

High seeds, particularly if they’re American, are desirable attractions for US Open tournament officials. They often headline night sessions in Ashe or, during the first three rounds, Louis Armstrong Stadium. Pegula hasn’t played under the lights since that opening Sunday, enabling her to develop a routine while colleagues deal with uncertain start times and bizarre sleep patterns. Pegula’s second and third-round matches were scheduled second on Ashe, and her fourth-round and quarterfinal contests were on first.

“I think it helps when you can get into a rhythm,” Pegula told Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim on Tuesday, after reaching her second Grand Slam singles semifinal. “I love being able to play first. It’s nice, during the day, everyone’s in a good mood and happy. And then, if you win, you’re done. It's nice just to go to back to the hotel.”

“Always great to have similar schedules from day to day,” Mark Knowles, one of Pegula’s two coaches, shared with me over text. “Very helpful.”

On top of that, Pegula’s Sunday start ensured she’d be playing the first set of matches each round. She’ll head into Thursday’s (night) semifinal with a full day of rest, unlike, say, Iga Swiatek or Amanda Anisimova, who play on Wednesday.

Of course, so will her opponent, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka—who got some unlikely rest of her own with Marketa Vondrouosova’s sudden withdrawal.

She embraced it, right? Mark Knowles, on Pegula’s 2024 US Open run

The only thing unusual about this match-up is that a trophy isn’t at stake. The three most recent Sabalenka vs. Pegula matches, all in the last 13 months, have been giant hard-court finals: at Cincinnati and the US Open last year, and in Miami earlier this year.

And like all seven of Sabalenka’s wins over Pegula in their nine meetings, they ended in straight sets.

Pegula last stood across the net from Sabalenka during Fan Week, after competing in the mixed doubles. She decided to cut their cold and windy practice short, describing it as “terrible.” Then she went to an escape room in the city with friends, and enjoyed a couple of beverages. (Not her first in New York.)

Two weeks later, she’s back in the final four.

She will surely try something different this encounter, but it may be more mental than tactical. It may be more…relaxing.

“Instead of maybe being so focused on what I have to do so strongly,” Pegula said in her press conference on Tuesday, “enjoying the crowd a little bit more, and enjoying the fact that I’m in this position again to possibly be in another final, and I’m playing the best player in the world.”

She echoed a similar sentiment to Wertheim: “Back myself, and know that I can play good tennis. That I’m a great player.”

The 31-year-old has reminded us of that this US Open—a tournament where, after eight months of globetrotting and grinding tennis, any advantage helps. Physically, she comes into her latest Sabalenka showdown with plenty in the tank. Mentally, she appears to be in her best head space in months.

Emotionally? Seemingly great, considering her post on X that her mom, Kim, was at her last two matches:

(Usually tight-lipped about her family, the Buffalo native made another reveal in our conversation, when I asked her about HBO’s latest season of Hard Knocks, featuring her beloved Bills: “People say my dad’s in it a lot—he’s pretty funny, which is true,” Pegula says with a laugh. “Maybe that’s kind of why I don’t want to watch, because it’s like, a little embarrassing.”)

If Pegula is to overcome Sabalenka, the US Open would be a fitting venue. It was here, last year, that she snapped a six-match losing streak in Grand Slam singles quarterfinals. She also did that against a world No. 1, Swiatek.

Referencing the pressure-filled moment, Knowles asks me after a Pegula practice at Indian Wells in March: “She embraced it, right?”

“She hadn’t gotten past the quarterfinal stage—which, by the way, millions of players would sign up for. The win over Iga was obviously super important, bright lights in New York City, trying to get over that hump.”

Pegula followed that with another breakthrough result, over Karolina Muchova in the semis. Victory seemed unlikely when Pegula trailed 6-1, 2-0 and faced break point. But out of position, she sprinted to get her racquet on a Muchova forehand with a defensive stab, and the Czech overcooked the volley. It was the match’s turning point.

“For me, that was probably a greater victory, because that showed true adversity,” Knowles recalls. “As I told her the minute she walked off the court—and I’ve been around a long time—99 percent of players would have just said, my run’s come to an end.

“She was able to dig deep. She’s a tenacious player, but she’s an incredible fighter.”

Success is... Jessica Pegula, ten days ago

A word that keeps surrounding Pegula this season is “challenges.” When I asked her what success at this US Open is, way back on Sunday, August 24, she said, “it’s dealing with the challenges, the ups and downs.” When she won a WTA 250 in Austin in early March, she thanked Knowles in her champion’s speech for “accepting the challenges every single day.”

A week later at the BNP Paribas Open, I asked Knowles what he thought Pegula meant by that. He gave a remarkable answer:

“It’s always fascinating when you work with great athletes, and she’s one of those. I’ve known a lot of them, and I’ve played at a pretty decent level as well. I understand all the stuff that goes into it. It’s not just the hitting of the tennis ball or those types of things, it’s a grind. I was taken aback at how hard she works—pretty impressive—but there’s also a balance there.

“I think with any coach, when they start working with a player, you want to hear from the player, you want to see how they react, how they deal with pressure, all the different things, and then you want to ingratiate your own philosophy. You’ve got to understand, she’s been very successful before me, and will probably be very successful after me. So it’s about trying to make our relationship, and the same with (fellow coach) Mark Merklein. We’re in tandem, we’re a full team, we’re all on the same page, which I think helps a lot.

“What’s important for Jess, like all great champions, is they demand a lot of themselves. That’s probably what she was referring to. Trying to see an athlete fulfill their potential. And there’s going to be challenges. If there wasn’t, everyone would be doing it.”

There will be no bigger challenge for Pegula than the one she must deal with Thursday night. Sabalenka, another great champion, has owned their recent history, but this may be Pegula’s best chance to capture an elusive Grand Slam title. It’s a full-circle moment for her—bright lights in New York City, trying to get over that hump.

It hasn’t been the Summer of Pegula, but it could be the September of Jess.

“The summer swing hasn't been my best summer swing, and I haven’t really been happy with that,” Pegula tells me. “But at the same time, I know I’m able to turn things around, and I know that I can play really good tennis here. I’ve had really good results here. I just kind of want to tap into that, what I know I’m capable of.

“So I feel like success is being able to turn around when things are challenging.”

Challenge accepted.